AYBREAK  IN 
TURKEY 


JAMES  L.BARTON 


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DAYBREAK  IN  TURKEY 


BY 
JAMES   L.   BARTON,  D.D. 

Secretary  of  the  American  Board 

AUTHOR    OF 

"the  missionary  and  his  critics,"  "the  unfinished 

TASK    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCh/'    ETC. 


SECOND    EDITION 


BOSTON 
THE    PILGRIM    PRESS 

NEW    YORK  CHICAGO 


Copyright,  1908 
By  James  L.  Barton 


THE   UNIVERSITY    PRESS,    CAMBRIDGE,    V.  S.  A. 


JL  b  the  revered  memory  of  that  noble  company 
of  men  and  women  of  all  races  and  creeds  who 
have  toiled  and  sacrificed  and  died  that  Turkey 
might    he  free,    this    volume    is    dedicated. 


URL- 


57:... 


FOREWORD 


THIS  book  was  not  written  in  order  to  catch  popular 
favor  at  this  time  of  revolution  in  the  Ottoman 
empire.  All  except  the  concluding  chapter  was  pre- 
pared some  time  before  the  24th  of  July,  1908,  and  the 
entire  work  was  at  that  time  nearly  ready  for  the  press. 
Much  of  the  material  had  been  used  in  the  Hyde  Lecture 
Course  at  Andover  Seminary  and  in  the  Alden  Lecture 
Course  at  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary.  The  chapter, 
"Turkey  and  the  Constitution,""  was  written  since  the  over- 
throw of  the  old  regime,  and  appeared  as  an  article  in  The 
Otitlook  in  September,  1908.  The  book  does  not  pretend 
to  be  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  Turkish  empire  and  its 
problems.  Such  a  work  would  necessarily  be  encyclopedic 
in  its  size  and  scope. 

The  purpose  from  the  beginning  has  been  briefly  and  clearly 
to  set  forth  the  various  historical,  religious,  racial,  material, 
and  national  questions  having  so  vital  a  bearing  upon  all 
Turkish  matters,  and  whicli  now  reveal  the  forces  that  have 
had  so  much  to  do  in  changing  Turkey  from  an  absolute 
monarchy  into  a  constitutional  and  representative  govern- 
ment. Reformations  have  never  come  by  accident,  and  this 
moral  and  political  revolution  in  Turkey,  the  most  sweeping 
of  all,  is  no  exception.     To  one  who  traces  the  entrance  and 


FOREWORD 


development  in  the  Ottoman  empire  during  the  last  century, 
of  reformative  ideas  in  the  religious,  intellectual,  and  social 
life  of  the  people,  the  present  almost  bloodless  revolution 
presents  no  mysteries.  It  is  but  the  fruit  of  the  seeds  of 
intelligence,  of  righteousness,  and  of  holy  ambition,  sown  in 
good  soil  and  now  bearing  fruit  after  their  kind. 

J.  L.  B. 
Boston,  December,  1908. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

I.  The  Country 13 

II.  Its  Resources 21 

III.  History  and  Government 29 

IV.  The  Sultan,  the  Heart  of  Turkey  ...  39 
V.  Race  Questions  and  Some  of  the  Races     .  49 

VI.  The  Armenians 63 

VII.  Moslem  Peoples 71 

VIII.  Turkey  and  the  West 83 

IX.  A  Strategic  Missionary  Center     ....  91 

X.  Social,  Moral  and  Religious  Conditions      .  99 

XI.  Christianity  and  Islam Ill 

XII.  Early  Pioneering  and  Explorations  .     .     .  117 

XIII.  Established  Centers 135 

XIV.  Beginnings  in  Reform 147 

XV.  Leaders,  Methods,  and  Anathemas     .     .     .  155 

XVI.  Results 169 

XVII.  Intellectual  Renaissance 179 

XVIII.  The  Printing-Press 195 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  Page 

XIX.    Modern  Medicine 205 

XX.    Standing  of  Missionaries 211 

XXI.    Completed  Work 221 

XXII.  Industrial  and  Religious  Changes    .     .     .  231 

XXIII.  American  Rights 239 

XXIV.  Religious  Toleration 247 

XXV.   The  Macedonian  Question 259 

XXVI.    General  Political  Situation 265 

XXVII.    Constitutional  Government 273 

Index 289 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Galata  and  Pera  and  the  bridge  of  boats  connecting 

with  Stamboul,  Constantinople      ....    Fro?Uispiece 

A  group  of  official  Turks  in  prayer  for  the  Sultan  upon 

his  birthday 42 

A  Koordish  chief  of  Southern  Koordistan  .           ...  68 

An  Armenian  Ecclesiastic 68 

A  mountain  village  in  Eastern  Turkey 94 

The  Bosporus,  Constantinople 94 

Robert  College,  Constantinople 184 

Syrian  Protestant  College,  Beirut,  Syria 184 

A  class  of  native  students,  graduates  from  the  American 

College  for  Girls,  Constantinople 224 

The  illustration  on  the  front  cover  shows  the  ruins  of  the  Arch  of 
Constantine,  Salonica,  Macedonia. 


INTRODUCTION 


One  of  the  obstacles  which  lie  in  the  path  of  the  European  when  he 
wants  to  arrive  at  the  true  opinion  of  the  Oriental  is  that  the  European, 
especially  if  he  be  an  official,  is  almost  always  in  a  hurry.  If,  he  thinks,  the 
Oriental  has  anything  to  say  to  me,  why  does  he  not  say  it  and  go  away? 
I  am  quite  prepared  to  Usten  most  attentively,  but  my  time  is  valuable  and  I 
have  a  quantity  of  other  business  to  do ;  I  must,  therefore,  really  ask  him  to 
come  to  the  point  at  once.  This  frame  of  mind  is  quite  fatal  if  one  wishes  to 
arrive  at  the  truth.  In  order  to  attain  this  object,  the  Oriental  must  be 
allowed  to  tell  his  story  and  put  forward  his  ideas  in  his  own  way ;  and  his 
own  way  is  generally  a  lengthy,  circuitous,  and  very  involved  way.  But  if 
any  one  has  the  patience  to  listen,  he  will  sometimes  be  amply  rewarded  for 
his  pains. 

I  once  asked  a  high  Moslem  authority  how  he  reconciled  the  fact  that 
an  apostate  could  now  no  longer  be  executed  with  the  alleged  immutability 
of  the  Sacred  Law.  The  casuistry  of  his  reply  would  have  done  honor  to  a 
Spanish  Inquisitor.  The  Kadi,  he  said,  does  not  recognise  any  change  in  the 
Law.  He  would,  in  the  case  of  an  apostate,  pronounce  sentence  of  death 
according  to  the  Law,  but  it  was  for  the  secular  authorities  to  carry  out  the 
sentence.  If  they  failed  in  their  duty,  the  sin  of  disobeying  the  Law  would 
lie  on  their  heads.  Cases  of  apostasy  are  very  rare,  but  during  my  tenure  of 
office  in  Egypt,  I  had  to  interfere  once  or  twice  to  protect  from  maltreat- 
ment Moslems  who  had  been  converted  to  Christianity  by  the  American 
missionaries. 

The  reasons  why  Islam  as  a  social  system  has  been  a  complete  failure 
are  manifold. 

First  and  foremost,  Islam  keeps  women  in  a  position  of  marked  inferi- 
ority. In  the  second  place,  Islam,  speaking  not  so  much  through  the  Koran 
as  through  the  traditions  which  cluster  round  the  Koran,  crystallises  religion 
and  law  into  one  inseparable  and  immutable  whole,  with  the  result  that  all 
elasticity  is  taken  away  from  the  social  system.  If  to  this  day  an  Egyptian 
goes  to  law  over  a  question  of  testamentary  succession,  his  case  is  decided 
according  to  the  antique  principles  which  were  laid  down  as  applicable  to  the 

Erimitive   society  of    the   Arabian    Peninsula  in  the  seventh  century.  — 
.OBD  Cromeb  in  "Modern  Egypt." 


INTRODUCTION 

NO  other  country  is  so  hard  to  understand,  in  its 
political,  intellectual,  industrial,  and  religious  con- 
ditions, as  the  Turkish  empire.  This  difficulty  is 
augmented  by  the  fact  that  no  one  of  these  conditions  can 
be  even  measurably  understood  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
others.  It  is  this  which  accounts  for  the  widely  divergent 
opinions  expressed  by  casual  travelers,  and  makes  well-nigh 
impossible  an  explanation  of  Turkish  phenomena  to  one 
who  as  yet  knows  nothing  of  the  country  and  people,  of 
actual  conditions  and  the  reasons  for  them. 

Turkey  differs  in  almost  every  respect  from  all  other 
countries.  Its  government  has  no  parallel  either  in  funda- 
mental principles  of  organization  or  in  methods  of  admin- 
istration. It  is  unique  in  its  religious  beliefs,  unexampled 
in  its  educational  conditions,  and  incalculable  in  its  deal- 
ings with  moral  and  religious  questions.  We  entertain 
notions  of  right  and  wrong  that  are  generally  accepted  by 
the  nations  of  Christendom  as  well  as  by  many  others  not 
so  classed.  These  conceptions  constitute  the  fundamental 
principles  of  international  usage  and  form  the  basis  for 
what  we  call  International  Law.  To  conclude,  however, 
that  these  generally  accepted  principles  will  command  rec- 
ognition in  Turkey  as  the  basis  for  its  international  rela- 
tions is  to  invite  disappointment.  Turkey  recognizes  no 
such  law  as  having  force  in  its  empire. 

In  the  dealings  of  one  nation  with  another  it  is  custom- 
ary to  regard  the  verbal  pledge  of  a  sovereign  or  cabinet 
minister  as  worthy  of  credence,  and  a  basis  for  negotia- 
tions, at  least,  if  not  for  final  adjustment.     This  notion 


INTRODUCTION 


must  be  laid  aside  as  purely  academic  and  visionary,  in 
dealing  with  Turkey. 

In  view  of  such  facts,  it  is  plain  that  no  phase  of  Turkish 
life  or  affairs  can  be  clearly  understood  without  consider- 
able knowledge  of  the  country  and  its  history,  the  govern- 
ment and  its  administrative  processes,  the  diversified  reli- 
gions of  its  people,  and  their  interdependence.  Such  a 
knowledge  is  especially  necessary  to  anything  like  an  intelli- 
gent comprehension  of  the  problems  and  methods  of  mis- 
sion work  in  the  empire  of  Turkey. 

All  the  chapters  of  this  book  except  the  last  were  written 
as  they  stand,  some  months  before  the  promulgation  of  the 
Constitution  on  July  24,  1908.  A  reading  of  this  manu- 
script suggests  no  alterations  in  the  light  of  recent  facts 
except  the  addition  of  a  statement  of  the  immediate  events 
that  led  to  the  overthrow  of  the  old  regime  and  the  inaugu- 
ration of  the  new  order.  Obviously  only  the  transitions 
can  be  recorded  here.  The  new  constitutional  government 
has  yet  to  demonstrate  its  stability. 


[l^J 


THE  COUNTRY 


In  attempting  to  understand  this  motley  field,  two  principles  of  the 
empire  must  always  be  kept  in  mind.  One  is  the  Mohammedan  principle, 
which  allows  non-idolatrous  peoples  to  retain  their  religion  on  pajTnent  of  a 
poU-tax,  at  the  same  time  freeing  them  from  military  duty.  The  other  is  the 
Turkish  principle,  which  allows  different  nationalities  to  remain  distinct, 
but  requires  them  to  be  represented  before  the  sultan  by  a  poUtical  or  reli- 
gious head.  There  is  no  assimilating  power  tending  to  unify  these  many  races 
and  rehgions,  hke  that  of  the  British,  or  even  the  Mughals,  in  India.  The 
consequence  is  that  all  these  separate  units  form  a  conglomerate  state,  bind- 
ing religions  and  nationahties  together  in  a  repellent  contact  ready  to  fly 
apart  into  fragments  the  moment  the  external  fettering  bond  snaps. — 
Edwajbd  a.  Laweence  in  "Modem  Missions  in  the  East." 


DAYBREAK  IN  TURKEY 


I.    THE   COUNTRY 

WHEN  the  Turks  laid  siege  to  Vienna  in  1529  it 
was  the  period  of  their  greatest  prosperity.  If 
at  that  time  the  entire  Ottoman  empire  had  been 
enclosed  by  a  modest  wall  it  would  have  taken  a  large  army 
of  workmen  from  that  day  to  the  present  to  tear  down  the 
old  boundaries  and  reerect  them  upon  the  new  lines.  A 
most  interesting  feature  of  this  constant  change  is  that  it 
has  been  almost  uniformly  a  decrease  in  the  area  of  the  em- 
pire. At  that  time  it  was  the  most  powerful  realm  in  the 
world.  It  included  all  the  states  bordering  upon  the  Medi- 
terranean except  Spain,  France,  Italy,  and  Morocco,  the 
entire  Black  Sea  coast,  and  nearly  all  that  of  the  Red  Sea, 
as  well  as  the  lower  Danube  district.  Gradually  province 
after  province  and  state  after  state  have  slipped  from  the 
grasp  of  the  sultan.  The  decline  became  decided  in  1606 
beginning  with  the  treaties  of  the  Sitavorok.  With  the 
treaty  of  Carlowitz  in  1699  it  amounted  to  actual  dismem- 
berment. The  epithet,  "  The  sick  man  of  the  East,"  was 
applied  to  the  sultan,  after  this  loss  of  prestige  from 
which  he  never  recovered.  The  retrograde  movement  con- 
tinued through  the  seventeenth  century.  While  the  Otto- 
man empire  had  been  the  object  of  extreme  fear  upon  the 
part  of  the  nations  of  Europe  up  to  the  beginning  of  that 
century,  each  of  them  vying  with  the  rest  in  seeking  the 
favor  and  good-will  of  the  reigning  sultan,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth   century  Turkey   had  reached  a   point 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


where  it  was  protected  by  Its  relative  weakness.  It  no 
longer  inspired  fear  in  the  hearts  of  European  rulers, 
while  its  impotency  and  the  mutual  antagonism  of  its  sub- 
ject non-Moslem  races  rendered  aggressive  national  action 
practically  impossible.  Parts  of  its  territory  became 
wholly  lost,  Hke  the  Danube  provinces,  the  Caucasus  and 
Tunis,  while  other  sections  became  semi-independent  like 
Bulgaria,  Cyprus,  Crete,  and  Egypt. 

The  Turkish  empire  may  now  be  defined  as  covering 
Macedonia  in  Europe,  extending  west  to  Greece,  northward 
to  include  Albania,  Bulgaria,  and  Adrianople,  —  all  of 
Asia  Minor  to  the  Russian  and  Persian  borders  upon  the 
east,  Syria  and  Arabia,  with  two  small  sections  of  Africa 
and  a  few  islands  in  the  Mediterranean.  It  exercises  no 
actual  control  of  Egypt,  while  its  hold  upon  parts  of 
Arabia  is  constantly  contested  by  the  people  themselves. 

The  size  and  population  of  territory  under  direct  con- 
trol of  Turkey  are: 

Europe 65,350  sq.  miles;      6,130,200  inhabitants 

Asia 693,610    "        "       16,898,700 

Africa 398,900    "        "        1,000,000 

1,157,860  24,028,900 

Under  indirect  control: 

Bulgaria  and  Eastern 

Roumelia     .   .   .  37,200  sq.  miles;  3,744,300  inhabitants 

Bosnia,  etc 19,800  "  "  1,591,100 

Crete 3,330  "  "           310,400 

Cyprus 3,710  "  "           237,000 

Samos 180  "  "             54,840            " 

Egypt 400,000  "  "  9,820,700 

464,220    "        "      15,758,340 

This  makes  a  total  area  covered  by  both  the  immediate 
and  quasi  possessions  of  the  sultan  1,622,080  square  miles, 


[16] 


THE    COUNTRY 


with  a  population  of  39,787,240.  These  are  the  figures 
given  by  the  Statesman's  Year-Book,  the  best  attainable 
authority  upon  the  subj  ect ;  but  even  these  must  be  taken 
largely  as  estimates  and  not  as  the  results  of  a  careful  and 
reliable  census,  —  something  that  never  takes  place  in 
Turkey. 

It  may  be  said,  therefore,  that  at  the  present  time  the 
sultan  of  Turkey  actually  rules  over  only  Constantinople, 
the  Macedonian  provinces  in  Europe  and  Asia  Minor 
to  the  borders  of  Russia  and  Persia,  extending  south 
through  Syria  and  into  Arabia.  This  includes  an  area  of 
about  704,000  square  miles,  and  a  population  of  about 
23,500,000. 

These  countries  directly  and  indirectly  governed  by  the 
Turkish  empire  command  the  interest  of  the  Biblical,  clas- 
sical, and  historical  student  beyond  any  other  part  of  the 
earth.  No  other  land  possesses  so  many  antiquities  of  such 
priceless  worth.  Turkey  is  the  stage  upon  which  many  of 
the  best-known  characters  of  literature  and  history  have 
lived  and  acted.  It  is  the  battle-field  where,  for  more  than 
thirty-five  centuries,  contending  civilizations  and  hostile 
religions,  under  ambitious  leadership,  have  met  in  bloody 
conflict.  There  is  hardly  a  section  of  it  that  has  not  been 
connected  directly  with  some  well-known  historical  per- 
sonage or  race  or  that  has  not  given  the  setting  to  some 
event  of  world-wide  renown.  This  is  true  from  Salonica 
on  the  ^gean  Sea  to  Persia  upon  the  east,  and  from  Trebi- 
zond  upon  the  Black  Sea  at  the  north  to  Aden  at  the 
southern  point  of  Arabia.  The  ruins  of  massive  castles  and 
fortresses,  moats  and  walled  cities,  that  tell  of  former 
strength,  of  pride  and  of  conflict,  are  found  in  almost  every 
part  of  the  empire.  Inscriptions  in  many  languages  adorn 
the  cliffs  or  are  built  into  walls  now  crumbling  to  ruin. 


[17] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Fragments  of  ancient  roads  with  arches  of  bridges  and 
of  aqueducts  still  standing,  as  old  as  our  Christian  era, 
tell  of  the  engineering  skill  of  the  early  possessors  of  the 
land. 

In  the  soil  thrown  up  beneath  one's  feet  are  found  gold, 
silver,  bronze,  and  copper  coins,  with  dates  varying  from 
six  hundred  years  before  our  Christian  era  to  the  coin 
of  the  present  ruler  of  the  realm. 

The  ancient  city  of  the  Trojans,  for  ten  years  defended 
by  Priam  against  the  finally  successful  assaults  of  Aga- 
memnon and  his  Greeks,  was  upon  what  is  now  Turkish  soil. 
Many  of  the  scenes  pictured  in  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssej'^ 
have  their  staging  in  what  is  modern  Turkey.  Assyria  and 
Babylon  and  Nineveh  there  arose  into  prominence,  wielded 
their  power,  and  passed  into  ruin.  Darius  and  Xerxes 
crossed  and  recrossed  this  country ;  and  Cyrus  met  his 
great  defeat  and  Xenophon  made  his  immortal  retreat  and 
all  within  Turkey.  Alexander  the  Great,  born  in  Mace- 
donia, conducted  many  of  his  brilliant  campaigns,  fought 
with  Darius  and  defeated  him,  occupied  Sidon  and  annexed 
Babylon  and  Nineveh  to  the  throne  of  Greece,  and  died  in 
Babylon  while  planning  the  conquest  of  Arabia;  all  in 
territory  now  subject  to  Sultan  Hamid  II. 

At  the  time  of  Christ  much  of  Asia  Minor  was  a  Roman 
province.  Ruins  of  Roman  roads  and  Roman  bridges,  in 
many  parts  of  the  country,  extend  to  the  northern  borders 
of  Mesopotamia,  while  Roman  coins  and  Latin  inscriptions 
are  too  common  to  attract  special  attention.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  there  is  no  other  part  of  the  world  which  presents 
so  much  of  permanent  interest  to  the  student  of  classic 
literature  and  life  as  the  territory  now  covered  by  the 
Turkish  empire. 

The  same  is  true  in  no  less  striking  measure  of  the  litera- 

— - 


THE    COUNTRY 


ture  and  life  recorded  in  the  Bible.  Probably  all  Old 
Testament  history,  except  that  part  which  was  enacted  in 
Egypt,  belongs  to  the  geography  of  Turkey ;  and  Egypt, 
until  recent  years,  was  a  part  of  that  empire.  The  Tigris 
and  Euphrates  rivers  rise  and  flow  throughout  their  length 
upon  Turkish  soil.  Chaldea,  Haran,  Mt.  Moriah,  Sinai, 
the  Wilderness,  Nineveh,  and  the  Promised  Land  are  a 
part  of  the  present  Moslem  empire.  Turkey  includes  the 
land  of  the  prophets  and  kings  of  Israel,  and  from  what  is 
to-day  her  domain  the  Hebrew  poets  sang ;  there,  too,  the 
temples  were  built,  the  chosen  race  was  scattered,  enslaved, 
and  restored. 

Except  for  one  brief  sojourn  of  our  Lord  in  Egypt,  his 
entire  life  was  passed  on  what  is  now  Turkish  territory. 
With  few  exceptions  the  apostles  lived  and  labored  and 
wrote  and  died  in  regions  now  ruled  over  by  the  sultan  of 
Turkey.  The  great  foreign  missionary,  Paul,  spent  but 
little  time  outside  this  country,  while  the  site  of  the  seven 
churches  of  the  Apocalypse  is  in  Turkish  territory.  The 
most  of  our  Christian  Scriptures  were  written  in  the  same 
country,  passing  from  there  to  the  west. 

The  land  of  Turkey  may  well  be  called  the  cradle  of 
classic  and  Biblical  literature  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
religions  as  well  as  that  of  Islam.  All  this,  however,  be  it 
not  forgotten,  refers  only  to  the  territory  covered  to-day 
by  the  Turkish  empire  and  not  at  all  to  the  empire  itself. 


19 


ITS  RESOURCES 


The  dominion  of  the  Ottoman  clan,  which  should  have  been  a  mere 
passing  phenomenon,  like  the  similar  dominion  of  another  Tartar  clan  in 
Russia,  owes  its  continuance,  as  we  read  its  history,  to  three  causes,  two  of 
them  intellectual.  The  first  is  the  extraordinary,  indeed  the  absolutely  un- 
rivalled force  displayed  through  ages  by  the  descendants  of  Othman,  the 
Tartar  chief  from  Khorassan.  The  old  line,  "An  Amurath,  an  Amurath 
succeeds,"  has  been  substantially  true.  Sprung  originally  from  a  stock  welded 
into  iron  by  the  endless  strife  of  the  great  Asiatic  desert,  mating  always  with 
women  picked  for  some  separate  charm  either  of  beauty  or  captivation,  the 
sultans,  with  the  rarest  exceptions,  have  been  personages,  great  soldiers, 
great  statesmen,  or  great  tyrants.  Mahmoud  the  destroyer  of  the  Janissaries, 
who  only  died  in  1839  —  that  is,  while  men  still  middle-aged  were  aUve  — 
was  the  equal  in  all  but  success  of  Amurath  I,  who  organized,  though  he  did 
not  invent,  that  terrible  institution ;  and  even  the  present  sultan,  in  many 
ways  so  feeble,  is  no  Romulus  Augustulus,  no  connoisseur  in  poultry,  but  a 
timid  Louis  XI,  who  overmatches  Russians  and  Greeks  in  craft,  who  terri- 
fies men  like  his  Ottoman  Pashas,  and  who  is  obeyed  with  trembling  by  the 
most  distant  servant  of  his  throne.  The  terrible  emir  of  Afghanistan,  whose 
satraps,  while  ruling  provinces  and  armies,  open  his  letters  "white  in  the  lips 
with  fear,"  is  not  regarded  with  more  slavish  awe  than  Abdul  Hamid,  the 
recluse  who  watches  always  in  his  palace  against  assassination  or  mutiny. 
We  have  only  to  remember  what  the  Hohenzollerns  have  been  to  Prussia,  to 
understand  what  the  family  of  Othman,  defended  as  they  have  been  against 
revolution  by  the  Mussulman  belief  that  "when  Othman  falls  Islam  falls," 
has  been  to  a  fighting  clan.  —  Meredith  Townsend  in  "Asia  and  Europe." 


II.    ITS  RESOURCES 

THE  countries  under  Turkish  rule  are  lands  of  real 
resource,  and  yet  a  superficial  view  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  Turkish  empire  gives  one  the  impression 
of  extreme  poverty.  Throughout  most  of  the  country 
the  hills  have  been  denuded  of  timber,  and  trees  are  found 
only  where  they  are  cultivated.  There  are  still  some  forest 
lands  bordering  on  the  southern  shores  of  the  Black  Sea, 
especially  towards  the  east.  In  Armenia,  the  region  in 
which  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  rivers  have  their  rise, 
even  the  roots  of  the  scrub-oaks  that  grow  upon  the  low 
mountains  and  high  plateaux  are  dug  up  for  fuel.  The 
crops,  in  large  part,  are  raised  by  the  most  primitive 
methods  of  irrigation,  although  in  the  western  part  of 
Asia  Minor,  as  well  as  in  other  sections,  considerable  high 
land  crops  are  produced.  These  are  uncertain,  owing  to 
frequent  failure  of  the  rains.  There  are  other  large  sec- 
tions, like  the  plains  to  the  north  of  the  modern  city  of 
Diarbekr  —  the  ancient  city  of  Amida  upon  the  banks  of 
the  Tigris  —  where  for  lack  of  surface  water  a  large  area 
of  the  richest  arable  land  lies  waste,  except  as  flocks  and 
herds  roam  over  it  during  the  rainy  season  in  the  spring. 

Yet  there  are  few  countries  in  the  world  that  can  boast 
of  richer  or  more  productive  soil  than  can  Turkey.  There 
are  desert  regions  in  Arabia,  but  these  are  not  as  extensive 
as  we  have  been  wont  to  suppose.  Turkey  exports  more 
foodstuffs  than  she  imports,  although  her  agricultural  re- 
sources are  but  slightly  developed.  The  method  of  farm- 
ing is  entirely  antiquated,  the  same  primitive  plow  being  in 
constant  use  to-day  that  was  employed  by  Abraham  in  the 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


fields  of  Haran.  In  spite  of  this  fact,  wheat  of  excellent 
quality,  barley,  rice,  millet,  cotton,  tobacco,  the  opium 
poppy,  and  almost  all  kinds  of  vegetables,  as  well  as  grapes, 
plums,  cherries,  olives,  quinces,  oranges,  lemons,  figs,  and 
pomegranates  are  produced  in  great  abundance.  The  mul- 
berry-tree flourishes  in  many  regions.  Sheep,  goats,  and 
a  stunted  breed  of  cattle  and  the  water-buffalo,  donkeys  and 
horses  thrive  in  most  parts  of  the  country,  while  as  beasts 
of  burden  the  camel  and  mule  are  found  in  all  sections  of 
Asiatic  Turkey. 

The  country  is  also  rich  in  minerals,  but  the  mines  are 
undeveloped.  By  the  laws  of  the  land,  all  minerals  belong 
to  the  government,  hence  no  private  mining  enterprises  are 
permitted.  Coal  is  found  in  many  parts  of  the  country, 
but  being  a  mineral,  by  government  classification,  it  cannot 
be  mined  except  officially.  Copper,  silver,  and  lead  abound, 
but  the  few  mines  worked  by  the  government  have  not  been 
paying  enterprises  except  to  the  official  in  charge. 

In  a  word,  Turkey  is  naturally  a  rich  country,  with 
boundless  resources  now  largely  undeveloped,  with  un- 
dreamed-of possibilities  of  increased  production  under 
modern  methods  of  agriculture  and  mining.  It  is  prob- 
ably true  that  the  empire  includes  some  of  the  very  richest 
land  and  ore  deposits  in  the  world. 

Exportation  from  Turkey  is  limited  to  the  coast  borders 
and  to  the  proximity  of  the  few  railways  that  exist.  Rail- 
roads are  confined  to  the  European  district  and  the  eastern 
section  of  Asia  Minor,  with  a  short  line  reaching  to  Tarsus 
and  Adana  from  Mersin  and  one  from  Joppa  up  to  Jeru- 
salem. New  lines  are  under  construction  intending  to  con- 
nect Damascus  with  Mecca.  Railroads  cannot  long  be  kept 
out  of  the  interior  of  the  country.  There  are  but  few  made 
wagon  roads,  nearly  all  of  which  have  been  constructed 


[24] 


ITS    RESOURCES 


since  the  Crimean  war  in  1854.  One  of  the  most  noted  of 
these  few  roads  over  which  wheeled  vehicles  can  pass  ex- 
tends from  Samsoun  upon  the  middle  southern  coast  of  the 
Black  Sea,  through  Marsovan,  Tokat,  Amasia,  Sivas,  Ma- 
latia,  Harpoot,  and  Diarbekr,  ending  at  Mardin,  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  six  hundred  miles.  Some  of  the  bridges 
planned  were  never  built,  and  many  were  washed  away  soon 
after  construction.  Another  highway  of  a  similar  nature 
extends  from  Trebizond  to  Erzerum.  Others  have  been  re- 
cently built  in  Northern  Syria.  These  roads  never  fail  to 
be  in  poor  repair.  But  the  ordinary  roads  are  worse, 
being  in  all  parts  of  the  empire  mere  bridle-paths,  often 
worn  deep  in  the  solid  rock  by  the  hoof-beats  of  the  cara- 
vans of  fifty  centuries. 

These  conditions  necessitate  in  the  interior  the  transpor- 
tation of  all  freight  by  horse  or  camel,  thus  discouraging 
commerce  and  trade,  increasing  the  price  of  imports  and 
making  export  practically  impossible.  This  explains  why 
a  famine  may  prevail  in  one  part  of  the  country  when  at 
the  same  time,  less  than  three  hundred  miles  away,  the  crops 
are  abundant.  A  good  system  of  railroads  would  revolu- 
tionize everything.  There  is  an  abundance  of  foreign  cap- 
ital ready  to  construct  such  roads.  Some  fifteen  years  ago 
the  plan  was  practically  consummated  to  build  a  railroad 
from  Samsoun  through  Asia  Minor  down  across  northern 
Mesopotamia  to  Bagdad.  At  the  last  moment  the  plan  was 
thwarted  by  the  sultan  himself.  In  conversation  upon  this 
matter  with  an  intelligent  Mohammedan  official  who  had 
been  educated  in  England  and  France,  the  writer  asked  him 
if  he  did  not  understand  that  such  a  road  would  bring  much 
wealth  into  the  country,  and  at  the  same  time  develop  far 
more  wealth  in  the  country  itself.  He  was  asked  if  he  had 
studied  the  railroads  of  America  and  Europe  and  observed 


[25] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


the  great  value  they  were  in  every  way  in  those  countries. 
His  reply  was  characteristic.  It  was  in  substance,  "  I  know 
well  that  all  that  you  say  of  the  value  of  railroads  to  a 
country  is  true.  You  have  not  overstated  it.  At  the  same 
time  I  know,  and  so  does  my  master,  the  sultan,  that  every 
dollar  of  foreign  capital  that  comes  into  this  country  under 
concessions  as  an  investment,  curtails  by  so  much  the  au- 
thority of  the  sultan  in  his  own  domains.  Such  capital 
always  brings  with  it  foreign  protection.  If  his  imperial 
majesty  should  change  his  mind,  as  he  has  full  right  to  do 
at  any  time,  in  regard  to  any  of  these  concessions,  he  is 
at  once  confronted  by  the  protests  of  that  country  to  which 
the  capital  belongs,  demanding  that  he  adhere  to  the  orig- 
inal agreement  or  pay  damages.  The  ruler  of  the  Ottoman 
empire  will  never  willingly  submit  to  such  humiliation. 
When  railroads  are  built  through  Turkey,  his  majesty  will 
construct  them  himself." 

This  explains  why  foreign  capital  is  not  building  rail- 
roads, developing  mines,  and  constructing  factories  in  that 
country.  It  explains  why,  in  this  respect,  Turkey  is  still 
in  the  depths  of  the  dark  ages. 

The  telegraph  system  of  the  country  is  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  government  and  reaches  every  city  of  any 
considerable  size.  This  became  necessary  to  the  sultan 
in  order  to  carry  on  the  processes  of  government.  Tele- 
grams are  carefully  censored ;  cipher  despatches,  when 
known  to  be  such,  are  not  accepted  except  from  ambassa- 
dors and  from  foreign  powers  to  their  chief  at  the  Porte, 
or  vice  versa.  The  postal  system  is  antiquated,  irregular, 
and  uncertain,  reaching  only  the  large  towns  upon  the 
limited  cross-country  routes.  Telephones  are  strictly 
prohibited. 

In  Constantinople  and  in  several  of  the  port  cities  like 


26  ] 


ITS    RESOURCES 


Smyrna,  Trebizond,  etc.,  there  are  foreign  post-offices  sup- 
ported and  conducted  by  foreign  countries  and  using  for- 
eign stamps.  These  became  necessary  because  of  the 
unreHabihty  of  the  Turkish  offices.  The  local  government 
has  made  several  attempts  to  abolish  the  sale  and  use  of 
foreign  postage-stamps  in  the  country,  but  has  failed  of 
accomplishing  it  because  the  representatives  of  the  leading 
foreign  powers  are  unwilHng  to  trust  their  mail  to  Turkish 
supervision  and  control. 


[-7] 


HISTORY  AND  GOVERNMENT 


Even  now,  when  we  all  talk  of  the  Turkish  empire  as  moribund,  it  is 
doubtful  if  it  will  perish  under  any  decay  from  within.  The  subject  races  do 
not  grow  stronger,  as  witness  recent  scenes  in  Armenia,  where  a  single  tribe, 
with  only  tolerance  from  the  sultan,  keeps  a  whole  people  in  agonies  of  fear. 
The  Arabs,  full-blooded  and  half-caste,  who  might  succeed  in  insurrection, 
find  the  strength  of  civihzed  Europe  right  across  their  path,  and  are  precipita- 
ting themselves,  in  a  fury  of  fanaticism  and  greed,  upon  the  powerless  states 
of  the  interior  of  Africa.  The  European  subjects  of  the  sultan  are  cowed, 
and  without  foreign  assistance  will  not  risk  a  repetition  of  Batouk.  The 
army  for  internal  purposes  is  far  stronger  than  ever,  the  men  being  the  old 
Ottoman  soldiers,  brave  as  Englishmen,  abstemious  as  Spaniards,  to  whom 
the  Germans  have  lent  their  discipline  and  their  drill.  No  force  within 
the  empire  outside  Arabia  could  resist  the  reorganized  troops  or  hope  to 
reach,  as  no  doubt  the  first  Mahdi  if  left  alone  might  have  reached,  Con- 
stantinople itself.  The  financial  difficulties  of  the  treasury  are  great,  but  the 
sultans  have  recently  risked  and  have  survived  complete  repudiation,  and  the 
revenue  is  enough,  and  will  remain  enough,  to  keep  the  army  together  and 
supply  the  luxury  of  the  palace.  —  Meredith  Townsend  in  "Asia  and 
Europe." 


III.    HISTORY  AND   GOVERNMENT 

WE  cannot  trace  here  the  story  of  the  rise  and 
spread  of  Islam  from  its  cradle  in  Arabia  to  the 
period  of  its  greatest  virility  in  1529,  when  all 
Europe  trembled  at  its  onward  sweep  and  conquest.  We 
can  speak  only  of  the  rise  of  the  Ottoman  empire  that 
has  been  perpetuated  in  unbroken  succession  to  the  present 
time. 

Near  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  a  tribe  of 
Turks,  not  Suljuks,  left  their  camping-grounds  in  Khoras- 
san,  urged  on  by  the  Mongol  invaders,  and  wandered  into 
Armenia.  This  tribe  was  divided  into  four  sections ;  one 
of  these,  led  by  Ertogrul,  went  into  Asia  Minor,  and 
there  became  allied  with  Aladdin  the  Suljukian,  sultan  of 
Iconium.  He  settled  upon  the  borders  of  Phrygia  and 
Bithynia  and  there  his  son  Othman,  or  Osman,  who  became 
the  founder  of  a  dynasty  and  an  empire,  was  born  and 
nurtured.  The  name  "  Ottoman  Empire  "  or  "  Osmanli 
Turks  "  came  from  him.  The  name  "  Othman  "  signifies 
"  bone-breaker." 

The  young  man  succeeded  his  father  as  the  head  of  the 
tribe.  He  united  in  his  character  the  traits  of  shepherd, 
freebooter,  and  warrior.  Osman's  ambition  was  fired  by 
a  dream  of  conquest  that  seated  him  upon  the  Byzantine 
throne.  He  was  upon  the  border  of  the  decaying  Greek 
empire  to  the  west,  and  back  of  him  were  the  vast,  restless 
populations  ready  to  enlist  under  any  leader  of  strength 
and  action.  He  invaded  Nicomedia  July  27,  1299,  from 
which  time  his  reign  is  usually  dated.  This  was  parallel 
with  Edward  I  of  England,  Philip  the  Fair  of  France,  and 

[¥1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Andronicus  Palaeologus  the  elder  of  Constantinople.  Slow 
encroachment  was  made  upon  the  imperial  domains  of  the 
Greek  empire,  while  at  the  same  time  his  authority  was  ex- 
tended over  considerable  districts  in  the  north  and  west  of 
Asia  Minor,  including  large  parts  of  Phrygia,  Galatia, 
and  Bithynia.  Prusa  (Brusa)  was  captured  and  became 
the  residence  of  Othman,  and  was  the  seat  of  his  govern- 
ment when  he  died  in  1326. 

Othman  was  succeeded  by  Orchan,  his  son,  who  extended 
the  boundaries  of  the  infant  state  with  marked  rapidity. 
He  took  NicjEa,  the  rest  of  Bithynia,  the  greater  part  of 
Mysia,  and  was  the  first  Turkish  ruler  to  pass  over  into 
Europe.  He  coined  money  in  his  own  name,  and  assumed 
the  prerogatives  of  royalty,  and  began  the  systematic  or- 
ganization of  his  government.  A  permanent  military  force 
was  established.  One  of  his  strongest  mihtary  organiza- 
tions was  composed  of  the  children  of  conquered  Chris- 
tians who  were  reared  in  Islam,  inured  from  their  youth  to 
the  profession  of  arms.  These  became  the  famous  Janis- 
saries perpetuated  in  the  conquests  of  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  They 
were  distinguished  for  their  valor  and  fanaticism. 
Through  more  than  three  centuries,  marked  by  a  long 
series  of  great  battles,  they  experienced  only  four  signal 
reverses.  One  of  these  was  by  Tamerlane,  in  1402,  and 
another  by  the  Hungarian  general,  John  Huniades,  in 
1442.  The  present  methods  of  administration  of  the 
Ottoman  empire  are  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  despotic 
nature  and  fanatical  character  of  the  Janissaries.  Their 
assumption  finally  reached  such  a  state  that  it  became 
necessary  to  extirpate  them  by  the  sword  to  prevent  their 
exercise  of  authority  over  the  sultans  themselves.  This 
was  accomplished  by  Mohammed  II  in  1826. 


[  32 


HISTORY    AND    GOVERNMENT 


Amurath  I  succeeded  Orchan  in  1359.  He  began  at 
once  to  make  advance  against  the  Greek  throne,  which  was 
much  weakened  by  its  schismatic  separation  from  the 
Roman  church.  In  1361  he  took  Adrianople  in  Europe 
and  made  it  his  official  residence,  and  the  first  European 
capital  of  the  Ottoman  power.  His  successor,  Bajazet  I, 
changed  the  title  of  "  Emir  "  for  that  of  "  Sultan,"  which 
name  has  been  perpetuated.  He  set  the  example,  followed 
so  repeatedly  since,  of  putting  his  only  brother  to  death 
in  order  that  he  might  not  aspire  to  the  throne.  He  ex- 
tended his  domains  east  to  the  Euphrates  and  north  to  the 
Danube.  He  boasted  that  he  would  yet  feed  his  horses  on 
the  altar  of  St.  Peter's  in  Rome.  He  was  captured  by 
Tamerlane  in  1402,  dying  the  following  year  in  captivity. 
Tamerlane  held  undisputed  sway  over  Asia  for  a  few 
'years.  A  son  of  Bajazet,  Mahomet  I,  restored  the  empire 
of  his  fathers  in  its  integrity.  It  was  during  his  reign, 
1413—21,  that  the  first  Turkish  ambassador  appeared 
abroad.  He  was  sent  to  Venice.  The  sultan  himself  paid 
a  visit  to  the  emperor  Manuel  at  Constantinople. 

Without  dwelling  upon  the  successive  sultans  and  the 
advances  made  by  each,  it  is  sufficient  to  record  that  most 
important  of  all  the  victories,  the  capture  of  Constanti- 
nople, the  capital  of  the  Greek  empire,  by  Mohammed  II, 
the  seventh  in  succession  from  Othman,  on  May  29,  1453, 
in  the  second  year  of  his  reign.  This  terminated  the  Greek 
empire,  1123  years  after  Constantine  the  Great  had  re- 
moved his  imperial  throne  to  Byzantium,  changing  its 
name  to  Constantinople.  Consternation  prevailed  among 
the  European  nations,  especially  in  those  immediately  con- 
tiguous to  the  Mohammedan  empire. 

From  that  time  to  the  present  day,  Constantinople  has 
been  the  residence  of  the  sultans  rulinsr  over  the  Ottoman 


[33] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


empire,  and  the  seat  of  the  Turkish  power.  Much  of  the 
machinery  of  government  now  in  use  was  organized  and 
put  into  operation  by  Mohammed  II.  The  administrative 
departments  were  constituted  in  what  was  then  called  "  The 
Porte,"  while  the  head  of  the  department  was  given  the 
well-known  name  of  "  Sublime  Porte."  This  name  came 
from  the  metaphorical  resemblance  between  a  state  and  a 
house  or  tent.  The  most  important  part  of  the  tent  was 
the  entrance  in  which  the  chiefs  sat  for  the  administration 
of  justice,  as  well  as  for  the  performance  of  other  duties. 

Mohammed  died  in  1481.  Succeeding  sultans  for  a 
century  seriously  threatened  the  institutions  of  Western 
nations.  In  the  religious  conflicts  of  the  sixteenth  century 
the  pope  of  Rome  was  undecided  which  to  fear  the  more, 
the  Protestants  or  the  Turks. 

The  Ottoman  empire  reached  the  zenith  of  its  power 
under  Suliman,  the  tenth  sultan,  whose  reign  was  the 
longest  in  the  annals  of  the  empire,  from  1520—1566.  He 
is  often  known  in  Europe  as  Suliman  "  the  great  "  or  "  the 
magnificent,"  but  Moslem  writers  name  him  "  the  law- 
giver." In  1525  the  French  ambassador  appeared  at 
the  Ottoman  court.  The  first  European  states  to  stipulate 
regular  capitulations  with  the  Porte  were  Genoa  and 
Venice,  w^hich  accomplished  this  in  1453  and  1454  respec- 
tively. These  were  confirmed  and  enlarged  by  succeeding 
sovereigns  to  1733.  France  next  secured  capitulations 
in  1528,  which  were  afterwards  amplified,  renewed,  and 
confirmed  down  to  1861.  The  first  treaty  relations  of 
England  with  Turkey  were  in  1579.  Other  European 
nations  followed  in  orderly  succession,  until  the  United 
States  concluded  its  first  treaty  at  Constantinople,  May 
7,  1830,  which  was  ratified  at  Washington,  Feb.  4,  1832. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Otto- 


[34] 


HISTORY    AND    GOVERNMENT 


man  empire  covered  Europe,  Macedonia,  Adrianople, 
Greece,  and  the  greater  part  of  Hungary,  while  in  Asia 
it  held  all  of  Asia  Minor,  Armenia,  Georgia,  Daghestan, 
the  western  part  of  Koordistan,  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  Cy- 
prus, and  the  chief  part  of  Arabia.  In  Africa,  Egypt, 
Tripoli,  Tunis,  and  Algiers  acknowledged  allegiance  to  the 
sultan  at  Constantinople;  and  the  khanate  of  Crimea, 
the  principalities  of  Wallachia,  Moldavia,  and  Transyl- 
vania with  the  republic  of  Ragusa  were  vassal  states. 
Diplomatic  and  commercial  relations  had  been  established 
between  the  Porte  and  the  leading  European  nations. 
From  that  time  the  great  power  then  possessed  began  to 
wane. 

Fundamentally  the  laws  of  Turkey  are  based  upon  the 
teachings  of  the  Koran.  The  only  restraint  upon  the  acts 
of  the  sultan  are  the  accepted  truths  of  Islam  as  laid 
down  in  the  sacred  book  of  the  prophet  Mohammed.  Next 
to  the  Koran  the  authority  is  a  code  of  laws  formed  of 
the  supposed  sayings  and  opinions  of  Mohammed,  and  of 
sentences  and  decisions  of  his  immediate  successors.  These 
are  called  the  "  Multeka,"  and  are  binding  upon  both  the 
sovereign  and  his  subjects.  Beyond  these  the  will  of  the 
man  who  occupies  the  throne  of  the  Ottoman  empire  is 
absolute  and  must  be  unquestioned  by  every  subject. 

The  sultan,  therefore,  is  at  the  head  of  every  depart- 
ment of  government,  amenable  to  no  laws  except  the  law 
of  the  Koran.  He  appoints  two  high  dignitaries,  —  the 
grand  vizier,  to  be  the  nominal  head  of  the  temporal  gov- 
ernment, and  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  to  be  the  head  of  the 
spiritual  government.  The  Sheik-ul-Islam  presides  over 
the  "  Ulema,"  a  body  made  up  of  the  Mohammedan  clergy, 
the  great  judges,  theologians,  and  jurists,  as  well  as  the 
noted  teachers  of  Mohammedan  literature  and  science. 


[35] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


There  is  no  constitution  to  exercise  directing  influence 
over  either  the  sultan  or  his  subordinates.  The  grand 
vizier  is  nominally  at  the  head  of  the  government  and 
represents  the  sultan.  At  the  present  time  he  has  come  to 
be  only  the  agent  of  the  sultan  in  carrying  out  his  wishes, 
having  little  authority  to  act  independently.  The  privy 
council,  over  which  the  grand  vizier  presides,  is  composed 
of  the  following  officials  or  cabinet  officers: 

Sheik-ul-Islam 
Minister  of  Justice 
"    War 

"        "    Marines 
President  of  the  Council  of  State 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 

"        "  the  Interior 

"        "  Finance 

"        "  Pious  Foundations 

"        "  PubUe  Instruction 

"        "  Conunerce  and  Public  Works 

The  whole  of  the  country  is  divided  into  vilayets  or 
states,  and  these  are  subdivided  into  sanjaks  or  provinces, 
which,  in  turn,  are  also  divided  and  subdivided.  The 
ruler  in  a  vilayet  is  a  vali  or  governor-general,  who  re- 
ceives his  appointment  directly  from  the  sultan,  and  who, 
with  the  assistance  of  a  provincial  council,  is  master  of 
the  vilayet.  He  has  power  over  the  inferior  officers  of  his 
district,  whom,  theoretically  at  least,  he  appoints  and  re- 
moves at  will.  There  are  eight  of  these  vilayets  in  Europe, 
eleven  in  Asia,  five  in  Armenia,  three  in  Mesopotamia,  six 
in  Syria,  two  in  Arabia,  and  two  in  Africa,  making  thirty- 
seven  in  all.  The  man  at  the  head  of  each  one  of  these 
states,  averaging  a  population  of  about  700,000  souls 
each,  is  accountable  to  the  sultan  alone  for  his  position 
and  to  him  he  makes  constant  secret  reports.  These  valis 
are  frequently  recalled  and  more  frequently  changed  from 


HISTORY    AND    GOVERNMENT 


place  to  place  by  orders  issued  directly  from  the  throne. 
In  this  way  the  sultan  controls  all  parts  of  his  dominions 
and  personally  determines  the  character  of  the  adminis- 
tration. All  policies  carried  out  in  any  part  of  the 
empire  are  liis  own  and  cannot  be  otherwise  under  present 
conditions. 


[37] 


THE  SULTAN,  THE  HEART  OF  TURKEY 


The  general  tendency  of  Islam  is  to  stimulate  intolerance  and  to  engender 
hatred  and  contempt  not  only  for  polytheists,  but  also,  although  in  a  modified 
form,  for  aU  monotheists  who  will  not  repeat  the  formula  which  acknowledges 
that  Mohammed  was  indeed  the  Prophet  of  God.  Neither  can  this  be  any 
matter  for  surprise.  The  faith  of  Islam  admits  of  no  compromise.  The 
Moslem  is  the  antithesis  of  the  pantheistic  Hindoo.  His  faith  is  essentially 
exclusive.  Its  founder  launched  fiery  anathemas  against  all  who  would  not 
accept  the  divinity  of  his  inspiration,  and  his  words  fell  on  fertile  ground,  for 
a  large  niunber  of  those  who  have  embraced  Islam  are  semi-savages,  and 
often  warlike  savages,  whose  minds  are  too  untrained  to  receive  the  idea  that 
an  honest  difference  of  opinion  is  no  cause  for  bitter  hatred.  More  than  this, 
the  Moslem  has  for  centuries  past  been  taught  that  the  barbarous  principles 
of  the  lex  talionis  are  sanctioned,  and  even  enjoined  by  his  rehgion.  He  is 
told  to  revenge  himself  on  his  enemies,  to  strike  them  that  strike  him,  to  claim 
an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth.  Islamism,  therefore,  unlike  Chris- 
tianity, tends  to  engender  the  idea  that  revenge  and  hatred,  rather  than  love 
and  charity,  should  form  the  basis  of  the  relations  between  man  and  man ; 
and  it  inculcates  a  special  degree  of  hatred  against  those  who  do  not  accept 
the  Moslem  faith.  "When  ye  encounter  the  unbeUevers,"  says  the  Koran, 
"  strike  off  their  heads  until  ye  have  made  a  great  slaughter  among  them,  and 
bind  them  in  bonds  .  .  .  O  true  behevers,  if  ye  assist  God,  by  fighting  for 
his  religion,  he  will  assist  you  against  yoiu-  enemies;  and  will  set  your  feet 
fast ;  but  as  for  the  infidels,  let  them  perish ;  and  their  works  God  shall  render 
vain.  .  .  .  Verily,  God  will  introduce  those  who  beheve  and  do  good  works 
into  gardens  beneath  which  rivers  flow,  but  the  unbehevers  indulge  them- 
selves in  pleasures,  and  eat  as  beasts  eat ;  and  their  abode  shall  be  hell  fire." 
It  is  true  that  when  Mohammed  denounced  unbelievers  he  was  alluding  more 
especially  to  the  pagans  who  during  his  lifetime  inhabited  the  Arabian 
Peninsula,  but  later  commentators  and  interpreters  of  the  Koran  applied  his 
denunciations  to  Christians  and  Jews,  and  it  is  in  this  sense  that  they  are  now 
understood  by  a  large  number  of  Mohammedans.  Does  not  the  word 
"Ghazi,"  which  is  the  highest  title  attainable  by  an  officer  of  the  sultan's 
army,  signify  " one  who  fights  in  the  cause  of  Islam ;  a  hero;  a  warrior;  one 
who  slays  an  infidel"  ?  Does  not  every  Moll  ah,  when  he  recites  the  Khutbeh 
at  the  Mosque,  invoke  Di\ine  wrath  on  the  heads  of  unbelievers  in  terms 
which  are  siiificiently  pronounced  at  all  times,  and  in  which  the  diapason  of 
invective  swells  still  more  loudly  when  any  adventitious  circumstances  may 
have  tended  to  fan  the  flame  of  fanaticism  ?  Should  not  every  non-Moslem 
land  be  considered  in  strict  parlance  a  Dar-el-Harb,  a  land  of  warfare? 
When  principles  such  as  these  have  been  dinned  for  centuries  past  into  the 
ears  of  Moslems,  it  can  be  no  matter  for  surprise  that  a  spirit  of  intolerance 
has  been  generated.  —  Lord  Ckomer  in  "Modern  Egj^pt." 


IV.    THE   SULTAN,  THE  HEART   OF 
TURKEY 

THE  present  sultan,  Abdul  Hamid  II,  is  the  thirty- 
fourth  in  direct  male  succession  from  Othman  and 
the  second  son  of  Sultan  Abdul  Medjid.  He  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne  upon  the  deposition  of  his  brother, 
Murad  V,  August  31,  1876,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four. 
By  the  Turkish  law  of  succession  the  crown  is  inherited 
according  to  seniority  by  the  male  descendants  of  Othman 
springing  from  the  imperial  harem.  All  children  born  in 
the  harem,  whether  from  free  women  or  slaves,  are  legiti- 
mate and  possess  equal  rights.  The  sultan  is  succeeded 
by  his  eldest  son,  in  case  there  are  no  uncles  or  cousins  of 
greater  age.  The  present  heir  apparent  to  the  throne  is 
the  oldest  brother  of  the  sultan,  who  outranks  all  of  the 
five  sons  of  Abdul  Hamid  as  heir  to  the  throne.  It  is 
not  the  custom  of  the  sultans  to  contract  regular  mar- 
riages. The  harem  is  kept  full  of  women  by  purchase, 
capture,  or  voluntary  offering.  Most  of  the  inmates  come 
from  districts  beyond  the  limits  of  the  empire,  largely  from 
Circassia. 

The  sultan  is,  without  question,  the  most  phenomenal 
person  sitting  upon  any  throne  to-day.  Educated  within 
his  own  palace,  having  passed  but  once  beyond  the  bor- 
ders of  the  land  in  which  he  was  born,  he  is  able  to  out- 
wit and  outmatch  in  diplomacy  the  combined  rulers  of 
Europe,  He  has  administered  his  widely-extended  and 
varied  empire  in  accordance  with  the  unmodified  Moslem 
principles  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  has  successfully  defied 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


all  attempts  upon  the  part  of  Christian  nations  to  change 
his  policy.  Without  a  navy  he  has  succeeded  in  averting 
repeated  threats  of  attack  by  the  strongest  navies  of  the 
world.  With  depleted  and  diminishing  resources  he  has 
held  his  creditors  at  bay,  capitalized  his  indebtedness,  and 
continued  to  live  in  lavish  luxury.  It  is  true  that  his  re- 
fusal to  comply  with  the  demands  for  reform  have  at  times 
in  the  past  led  to  the  loss  of  some  of  his  possessions,  still 
he  does  not  seem  to  have  learned  therefrom  any  permanent 
lesson. 

Turkey  as  a  whole  has  never  been  so  unrighteously  gov- 
erned as  it  is  to-day,  and,  in  spite  of  the  pressure  of 
European  governments,  there  is  little  prospect  of  radical 
reforms  so  long  as  the  present  sultan  sits  upon  the  throne. 
While  he  is  an  astute  and  unprincipled  diplomat  and  a  tire- 
less sovereign,  he  is  not  a  reformer  in  any  sense  of  the 
word.  So  long  as  he  is  sultan,  he  proposes  to  be  master, 
preferring  to  lose  entire  provinces  rather  than  to  share 
the  administration  with  any.  He  yields  only  when  subter- 
fuge fails  and  the  policy  of  delay  is  rej  ected ;  after  he  has 
yielded,  he  devotes  himself  to  vitiating  the  advantages  his 
subjects  might  gain  by  his  concessions. 

Personally  timid  and  fearful,  he  astonishes  the  world 
by  the  boldness  of  his  strokes  at  home  and  his  stubborn 
resistance  to  pressure  from  abroad.  Himself  profoundly 
religious,  he  horrifies  all  by  the  wholesale  murder  of  his 
subjects  through  his  lieutenants  acting  upon  direct  orders 
from  the  palace.  This  he  has  done  repeatedly,  and  it  is 
a  part  of  his  method  of  administering  his  home  affairs  and 
keeping  his  subjects  properly  subdued. 

The  present  political,  social,  economic,  and  religious 
problems  of  Turkey  center  in  the  sultan.  Few  countries 
in  the  world  would  respond  so  quickly  to  the  influence  of 


42  ] 


THE    SULTAN,    THE    HEART    OF   TURKEY 

good  government,  and  few  people  would  so  appreciatively 
welcome  a  firm  and  righteous  administration  as  the  people 
of  Turkey. 

The  sultan  exercises  his  power  through  his  army  and 
his  appointees  to  office.  The  Turks  make  perhaps  the  best 
soldiers  in  the  world.  They  are  strong,  inured  to  hard- 
ship, uncomplaining,  and  practical.  To  them  all  war  with 
non-Moslems  and  rebels  —  and  they  fight  with  no  others 
—  is  holy  war.  Only  Mohammedans  are  enrolled  in  the 
army,  and  all  such,  over  twenty  years  of  age  in  the  coun- 
try, are  liable  to  military  service  until  they  are  forty.  The 
empire  is  divided  into  seven  army  administrative  districts, 
in  each  of  which  is  located  an  army  corps.  These  are 
Constantinople,  Adrianople,  Monastir,  Erzerum,  Damas- 
cus, Bagdad,  and  the  Yemen,  with  the  independent  divisions 
of  the  Hejaz  and  Tripoli.  The  infantry  are  armed  with 
Mauser  rifles.  The  effective  war  strength  of  the  Turkish 
army  is  987,900  men.  The  navy  possesses  no  fighting 
power. 

The  governing  force  of  the  empire  is  strictly  Moham- 
medan. The  army  is  indeed  a  church  militant  with  no 
unbeliever  among  its  oflUcers  or  men,  except  as  European 
military  experts  are  employed  to  drill  and  discipline  the 
troops.  The  entire  administration  of  both  civil  and  mili- 
tary affairs  is  a  religious  administration.  Men  of  other 
religions  are  asked  to  take  part  in  civil  affairs  only  when 
Mohammedans  cannot  be  found  to  do  the  work  required. 
Many  high  positions,  even  in  the  cabinet,  have  been  credit- 
ably filled  by  Armenians  and  Greeks,  but  this  is  the  excep- 
tion and  not  the  rule.  Turkey  agreed  some  time  ago  to 
admit  Christians  to  her  army,  but  has  never  seen  her  way 
clear  to  carry  out  the  agreement.  At  the  center  of  this 
Mohammedan   administration   sits  the   sultan,   Hamid  II, 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


with  his  vahs  or  governors  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  every 
province,  in  close  and  constant  communication  with  him- 
self and  carrying  out  his  imperial  will.  These  local  gov- 
ernors are  sustained  by  the  Moslem  army,  commanded  by 
officers  who  also  receive  their  instructions  directly  from 
the  palace  on  the  Bosporus. 

This  is  the  system  of  administration  that  has  become 
established  in  the  Ottoman  empire,  and  that  must  be  borne 
in  mind  as  we  proceed  with  the  study  of  the  country,  the 
people,  their  economic,  social,  and  religious  conditions. 

The  position  of  Turkey  and  of  the  Ottoman  empire  is 
unique  among  the  countries  of  the  world.  For  centuries  it 
has  stood  before  the  world  as  the  one  great  Mohammedan 
temporal  power,  with  its  laws  and  usages  built  upon  the 
tenets,  traditions,  and  fanaticisms  of  Islam.  Every  civ- 
ilized definition  of  a  government  fails  when  applied  to 
Turkey,  and  every  conception  of  the  duty  of  a  govern- 
ment to  its  subjects  is  violated  in  the  existing  relations 
between  the  Turkish  government  and  the  people  of  that 
empire.  Under  these  conditions,  much  worse  now  than 
they  were  two  generations  ago,  mission  work  is  carried  on. 

While  there  are  many  Turkish  officials  who  keenly  de- 
plore the  evils  of  the  system,  and  would  change  if  they 
could  the  untoward  relations  of  the  government  to  its 
oppressed  subjects,  they  are  powerless  to  act  and  must 
even  conceal  their  dissatisfaction  for  fear  of  being  branded, 
as  many  have  been,  as  traitors  to  the  existing  rule,  for 
which  charge  the  penalty  is  banishment  or  death.  There 
is  a  general  feeling  that  no  reform  can  be  inaugurated  or 
carried  out  so  long  as  the  present  monarch  sits  upon  the 
throne. 

A  distinguished  Orientalist,  intimately  acquainted  with 
affairs  at  Constantinople,  has  recently  written  upon  the 


44  ] 


THE    SULTAN,    THE    HEAET   OF   TURKEY 

sultan  and  his  diplomatic  methods  in  the  following  terms. 
For  obvious  reasons  the  identity  of  the  writer  is  concealed : 

Rarely  has  a  young  sovereign  been  in  a  more  desperate  and  ap- 
parently hopeless  position  than  Abd-uI-Hamid  occupied  in  the  third 
year  of  his  reign,  1878.  His  armies  had  been  utterly  beaten  in  a 
great  war.  His  people  had  no  confidence  in  their  country,  or  their 
future,  or  their  sultan.  Prophecies  were  widely  current  about  1878- 
1882  identifying  him  as  the  last  sultan  of  Turkey  and  the  consum- 
mator  of  its  ruin.  The  treasury  was  almost  bankrupt.  He  himself 
had,  and  still  has,  a  dislike  and  fear  of  ships,  which  paralyzed  his 
fleet  during  the  war  that  had  just  ended,  and  has  ever  since  left  it 
to  rot  in  idleness,  until  there  is  at  the  present  day,  probably,  not  a 
Turkish  ship  of  war  that  could  venture  to  cross  the  -^gean  Sea  in 
the  calmest  day  of  summer. 

The  sultan  alone  in  Turkey  did  not  despair.  He  alone  saw  how 
the  power  of  the  sultans  could  be  restored.  And  twenty-eight  years 
after  he  seemed  to  be  near  the  end  of  a  disastrous  and  short  reign 
he  is  still  on  the  throne,  absolute  autocrat  to  a  degree  that  hardly 
even  the  greatest  of  the  sultans  before  him  attained,  in  close  com- 
munication with  the  remotest  corners  of  the  Mohammedan  world 
from  the  east  of  Asia  to  the  west  of  Africa,  respected  and  powerful 
in  Moslem  lands  where  the  name  of  no  former  sultan  was  known 
or  heeded,  courted  by  at  least  one  leading  Power  in  Europe  and  by 
the  great  American  republic. 

The  last  fact  is,  perhaps,  the  most  remarkable  of  all  in  this  strange 
history.  The  diplomatists  of  America,  so  strong  and  self-confident 
in  their  dealings  with  the  greatest  of  European  Powers,  so  accus- 
tomed to  say  to  them  all,  "This  is  our  will  and  intention,"  have  for 
many  years  been  the  humblest  and  most  subservient  of  all  the  Chris- 
tian Powers  in  their  attitude  to  Turkey,  aiming  always  at  imitating 
the  German  policy  and  being  on  the  friendly  side  of  the  Turks,  but 
forgetting  that  Germany  has  that  to  give  which  America  has  not,  and 
that  America  has  interests  to  protect  in  Turkey  of  a  kind  which 
Germany  has  not. 

The  sultan  had  the  genius  or  the  good  fortune  to  divine  almost  from 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


the  beginning  of  his  reign  what  only  a  few  even  yet  dimly  compre- 
hend, —  the  power  of  reaction  and  resistance  which  Asia  can  oppose 
against  the  West.  He  formed  the  plan  of  consolidating  the  power 
of  the  entire  Mohammedan  world,  and  placing  himself  at  the  head 
of  this  power,  and  he  has  carried  the  plan  into  effect.  The  sultans 
had  always  claimed  the  position  of  khalif,  but  this  had  hitherto  been 
a  mere  empty  name,  until  Abd-ul-Hamid  appealed  from  his  own 
subjects,  who  rejected  him,  to  the  wider  world  of  Mohammedans, 
won  their  confidence,  and  made  them  think  of  him  as  the  true  Com- 
mander of  the  Faithful. 

One  naturally  asks  whether  this  result  was  gained  through  the 
strength  of  a  real  religious  fervor  or  through  the  clever  playing  of 
an  astute  and  purely  selfish  game.  While  there  may  have  been  some- 
thing of  both  elements,  I  do  not  doubt  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
religious  enthusiasm  or  fanaticism ;  the  first  idea  could  never  have 
been  struck  out  without  the  inspiration  of  strong  religious  feeling. 

It  used  to  be  said  about  1880  by  those  who  were  in  a  position  to 
know  best  —  no  one  has  ever  been  in  a  position  to  have  quite  cer- 
tain knowledge  in  Constantinople  —  that  the  sultan  was  a  Dervish 
of  the  class  called  vulgarly  the  Howling,  and  that  when  (as  was  often 
the  case)  the  ministers  of  state  summoned  to  a  council  had  to  wait 
hour  after  hour  for  the  sultan  to  appear,  he  was  in  an  inner  room 
with  a  circle  of  other  Dervishes  loudly  invoking  the  name  of  Allah 
and  working  up  the  ecstatic  condition  in  which  it  should  be  revealed 
whether  and  when  he  should  enter  the  council.  I  do  not  doubt  that 
the  great  idea  of  appealing  to  the  world  of  Islam  was  struck  out  in 
some  such  moment  of  ecstasy.  At  the  same  time,  Abd-ul-Hamid 
has  had  a  good  deal  to  gain  from  the  success  of  this  policy. 

Europeans  who  have  been  admitted  to  meet  the  sultan  in  direct 
intercourse  are  almost  all  agreed  that  he  possesses  great  personal 
charm  and  a  gracious,  winning  courtesy.  On  the  other  hand,  min- 
isters of  state  used  to  speak  with  deep  feeling  of  the  insults  and  abuse 
poured  on  any,  even  the  highest,  who  had  the  misfortune  to  express 
an  opinion  that  did  not  agree  with  his  wishes. 

An  official  in  the  palace  described  very  frankly  —  it  is  wonderful 
how  freely  and  frankly  Turks  express  their  opinion ;  this  seems  in- 


[46] 


THE    SULTAN,    THE    HEART   OF   TURKEY 

separable  from  the  Turkish  nature  —  to  an  Englishman  whom  he 
knew  well  the  situation  in  the  palace  at  the  time  when  an  ultimatum 
had  been  presented,  and  before  it  was  known  what  would  be  the 
issue;  how  the  sultan  was  flattered  up  to  believe  that  he  had  only 
to  go  into  Egypt  and  resume  possession,  and  that  the  English  would 
never  resist.  The  Englishman  remarked,  "  But  you  know  better 
than  that,  and  of  course  you  give  better  advice  when  the  sultan  asks 
your  opinion."  "  God  forbid,"  was  the  reply,  "  that  I  should  say  to 
the  sultan  anything  except  what  he  wishes  me  to  say.  No !  when 
he  asks  me,  I  reply  that  of  course  the  master  of  a  million  of  soldiers 
has  only  to  enter  Egypt  and  it  is  his.  And  it  is  not  for  nothing  that 
I  do  this.  The  sultan  is  pleased  with  me,  and  signs  some  paper  that 
I  have  brought  him,  and  it  may  be  worth  10,000  piastres  to  me." 

The  sultan  hates  England  with  a  permanent  and  ineradicable 
hatred;  this  feeling  dominates  and  colors  his  whole  policy;  it  is 
only  for  that  reason  that  he  tolerates  Germany,  which  otherwise  he 
dislikes.  England  has  always  been  the  friend  of  the  Reform  party 
in  Turkey ;  and  the  sultan  is  the  great  reactionary  who  has  trodden 
the  Reform  party  in  the  dust.  But,  worse  than  that,  England,  pre- 
tending to  help  Turkey,  took  possession  of  Cyprus,  nominally  to 
enable  her  to  guarantee  Turkey  against  Russia  in  Asia  Minor,  but 
really  (as  it  seems  to  the  Turks)  by  pure  theft,  because  all  pretence 
of  using  Cyprus  as  a  basis  of  operations  against  Russia  in  Asia 
Minor  was  abandoned  in  1880,  and  yet  England  kept  Cyprus. 

Now  to  the  sultan  the  sting  lies  in  this,  that  Cyprus  was  his  private 
appanage,  and  not  part  of  the  State.  The  whole  revenue  of  Cyprus 
went  to  the  sultan's  privy  purse.  But  worse  still :  at  first  the  Eng- 
lish paid  over  the  Cypriote  revenue,  about  £95,000  a  year,  to 
Constantinople,  but  after  the  Gladstonian  government  came  into 
power,  in  1880,  this  revenue  was  diverted  to  pay  interest  on  the 
Turkish  debt,  emptying  the  sultan's  private  purse  into  the  lap  of  the 
European  bondholders. 

The  sultan,  therefore,  welcomed  the  German  intervention,  for 
the  Germans  encouraged  him  to  govern  as  he  pleased.  They  even 
persuaded  him  that  railways  were  necessary  for  military  efficiency, 
and  showed  that  the  Hedjaz  Railway  must  be  the  foundation  of  his 

[47] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


khalifate.  Yet  the  railways  that  he  has  made,  and  the  Moslem 
schools  that  he  has  founded,  are  the  surest  means  of  educating  his 
people,  and  education  is  the  inevitable  enemy  of  autocracy. 

The  German  policy  has  seemed  to  be  very  successful  in  promot- 
ing German  interests  in  Turkey.  But,  after  all,  the  ground  fact  is 
that  the  German  policy  was  an  opportunist  policy,  and  the  English 
policy,  ignorant  and  ill-managed  as  it  has  been,  was  founded  on 
deeper  principles.  History  will  record  hereafter  that  the  former 
proved  a  failure,  and  that  the  hatred  of  a  people  more  than  com- 
pensated for  the  favor  of  an  evanescent  tyrant.  The  same  struggle 
is  going  on  in  Turkey  as  in  Russia  —  the  educated  part  of  the  people 
on  one  side,  a  t^Tanny  resting  on  bureaucracy  and  obscurantism  on 
the  other.  Whatever  may  be  the  faults  of  Abd-ul-Hamid,  his  worst 
enemy  must  place  him  on  an  immensely  higher  level  than  the  czar 
on  any  point  of  view,  humanitarian  or  patriotic,  personal  or  political. 
But  for  England  in  Turkey  the  greatest  danger  is  that  she  be  tempted 
to  Germanize  her  policy  from  experience  of  the  apparent  German 
success.  Her  policy  has  been,  on  the  whole,  the  wiser,  but  it  has 
been  carried  out  with  an  ignorance  of  Turkish  facts  that  is  appalling. 


[48] 


RACE   QUESTIONS  AND   SOME   OF 
THE   RACES 


The  rigidity  of  the  Sacred  Law  has  been  at  times  slightly  tempered  by 
weU-meariing  and  learned  Moslems  who  have  tortm-ed  their  brains  in  devising 
sophisms  to  show  that  the  legal  principles  and  social  system  of  the  seventh 
century  can,  by  some  strained  and  intricate  process  of  reasoning,  be  consis- 
tently and  logically  made  to  conform  with  the  civilized  practices  of  the 
twentieth  century.  But,  as  a  rule,  custom  based  on  the  reUgious  law,  coupled 
with  exaggerated  reverence  for  the  original  lawgiver,  holds  all  those  who 
cling  to  the  faith  of  Islam  with  a  grip  of  iron  from  which  there  is  no  escape. 
"  During  the  Middle  Ages,"  it  has  been  truly  said,  "  man  hved  enveloped  in  a 
cowl."  The  true  Moslem  of  the  present  day  is  even  more  tightly  enveloped 
by  the  sheriat. 

In  the  third  place,  Islam  does,  not,  indeed,  encourage,  but  it  tolerates 
slavery.  "  Mohammed  found  the  custom  existing  among  the  Pagan  Arabs ; 
he  minimised  the  e\al."  But  he  was  powerless  to  aboUsh  it  altogether.  His 
followers  have  forgotten  the  discouragement,  and  have  very  generally  made 
the  permission  to  possess  slaves  the  practical  guide  for  their  conduct.  This  is 
another  fatal  blot  in  Islam. 

Lastly,  Islam  has  the  reputation  of  being  an  intolerant  religion,  and  the 
reputation  is,  from  some  points  of  view,  well  deserved,  though  the  bald  and 
sweeping  accusation  of  intolerance  requires  quaUfication  and  explanation. 
The  followers  of  the  Prophet  have,  indeed,  waged  war  against  those  whom 
they  considered  infidels.  They  are  taught  by  their  religious  code  that  any 
unbehevers,  who  may  be  made  prisoners  of  war,  may  rightly  be  enslaved. 
Moreover,  sectarian  strife  has  not  been  uncommon.  Sunni  has  fought 
against  Shiah.  The  orthodox  Moslem  has  mercilessly  repressed  the  followers 
of  Abdul  Wahab.  Further,  apostasy  from  Islam  is  punishable  with  death, 
and  it  is  not  many  years  ago  that  the  sentence  used  to  be  carried  into  effect. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  annals  of  Islam  are  not  stained  by  the  history  of  an 
Inquisition.  More  than  this,  when  he  is  not  moved  by  any  circumstances 
specially  calculated  to  rouse  his  religious  passions,  the  Moslem  readily 
extends  a  half-contemptuous  tolerance  to  the  Jew  and  the  Christian.  In  the 
villages  of  Upper  Egypt,  tlie  Crescent  and  the  Cross,  the  Mosque  and  the 
monastery,  have  stood  peacefully  side  by  side  for  many  a  long  year.  — 
Lord  Cromer  in  "Modern  Egypt." 


V.    RACE   QUESTIONS  AND   SOME 
OF  THE   RACES 

A  LL  questions  relating  to  the  internal  government  of 
/-\  the  Ottoman  empire  would  be  greatly  simplified 
"^  "^"  and  much  more  easily  comprehended,  were  the 
people  of  Turkey  substantially  of  one  race  like  those  of 
China  or  Japan.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  As  the  Mos- 
lems overran  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  Armenia,  and  Asia 
Minor,  they  conquered  peoples  of  other  races  than  them- 
selves and  of  other  religions.  In  their  wars  of  conquest 
the  Mohammedans  revealed  a  degree  of  toleration  which  is 
to  be  commended.  All  conquered  people  were  asked  to 
embrace  Islam.  If  they  persistently  refused,  they  were 
conceded  the  right  to  live  upon  the  payment  of  an  annual 
tribute  per  capita.  The  acceptance  of  this  condition  was 
an  outward  recognition  that  the  Moslems  were  their 
masters,  while  the  money  thus  obtained  enabled  the  con- 
querors to  extend  their  conquests.  Whoever  declined  to 
accept  Islam  and  refused  to  pay  the  life  tax  was  put  to  the 
sword.  This  left  within  the  conquered  districts  only  two 
classes,  the  Mohammedan  rulers  and  those  who,  by  annual 
tribute,  confessed  themselves  to  be  a  conquered  people, 
permitted  to  live  from  year  to  year  by  virtue  of  the  money 
paid. 

It  is  most  natural  that  this  distinction,  perpetuated  for 
thirty  generations,  should  lead  to  aggravated  relations  of 
conqueror  and  conquered.  It  was  inevitable  that  the 
Moslems  should  become  imperious  and  the  other  people 
depressed  and  subservient. 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


In  order  to  understand  certain  governmental  and  reli- 
gious phases  of  the  Turkish  empire,  it  is  essential  that  we 
look  a  little  in  detail  into  the  history  and  characteristics 
of  these  divergent  elements  of  its  population  which  to- 
gether make  up  the  populations  of  that  country.  It  is  a 
subject  preeminently  of  races  and  religions.  Within  the 
empire  there  is  only  one  unifying  force  and  that  is  Mo- 
hammedanism. All  who  embrace  Islam,  irrespective  of  the 
race  from  which  they  sprang,  become  an  integral  part  of 
the  governing  body.  Such  begin  at  once  to  use  either  the 
Turkish  or  the  Arabic  language  and  to  bear  the  name 
"  Turk." 

Besides  this  one  unifying  force,  there  is  no  tendency  to 
bring  together  the  different  races  or  to  amalgamate  them. 
There  is  little  intermarriage.  Each  race  has  its  own  lan- 
guage and  its  distinct  rehgion.  To  them  all  religion  is 
racial,  or,  as  they  call  it,  "  national."  A  man  without  a 
rehgion  is  beyond  their  conception;  and  under  the  laws 
of  the  empire  he  can  have  no  place  in  any  community  or 
possess  any  rights  that  others  are  bound  to  respect.  Each 
man,  woman,  and  child  must  be  registered  upon  the  rolls 
of  some  national  church.  There  his  name  stands,  and  in 
that  record  his  rights  inhere  until  he  changes  to  Islam. 
Turkey  allows  few  rights  or  privileges  to  one  not  a  regis- 
tered member  of  a  religious  community. 

We  will  consider  briefly  a  few  of  the  old  historical  and, 
in  some  cases,  once  powerful  races,  now  found  in  that 
empire,  and  among  which  mission  work  is  carried  on. 
Only  by  acquaintance  with  these  races  can  we  understand 
the  real  factors  in  the  problem. 

There  are  the  many  non-Moslem  races  of  Syria,  the 
country  first  overrun  by  the  Moslem  invaders  as  they 
pushed  their  way  northward.     The  races  who  occupy  that 


[52] 


RACE    QUESTIONS   AND    SOME   OF   THE   RACES 

country  in  connection  with  perhaps  one  million  Mohamme- 
dans are  the  Nusairiyeh,  the  Maronites,  Greeks  and  Ar- 
menians, Jacobites,  Druses,  and  Jews.  The  three  men- 
tioned here  especially  peculiar  to  Syria  are  the  Nusairiyeh, 
the  Maronites,  and  the  Jews. 

THE   NUSAIRIYEH 

The  Nusairiyeh  number  a  quarter  of  a  million  souls  or 
more  and  are  perhaps  the  most  degraded  of  all  of  the  races 
in  Turkey.  They  are  also  most  difficult  to  classify  reli- 
giously or  ethnologically.  Their  religion  is  a  mixture  of 
ancient  heathenism,  the  survival  of  certain  Gnostic  behefs, 
tinged  strongly  with  Mohammedanism.  The  Moham- 
medans claim  them,  as  they  do  the  Koords  and  Albanians. 
They  dwell  in  the  mountains  north  of  Syria  and  along  the 
Mediterranean  coast  as  far  north  as  Cilicia.  Their  origin 
is  lost  in  obscurity.  At  present  they  are  decidedly  a 
mixed  race.  Their  name  comes  from  Nusair,  who  led  them 
in  their  separation  from  the  Shiites,  of  which  they  were 
a  branch.  The  Nusairiyeh  are  most  reticent  upon  the  sub- 
ject  of  their  religion.  It  is  regarded  as  an  unpardonable 
sin  to  reveal  their  religious  beliefs  and  rites.  They  wor- 
ship the  moon,  which  they  think  is  the  throne  of  Ali,  and 
the  sun,  which  is  the  throne  of  Mohammed.  They  also 
worship  fire,  the  waves  of  the  sea,  and  anything  that  mani- 
fests power.  They  believe  in  transmigration  of  the  soul, 
progress  being  upward  or  downward  according  to  the  life 
of  the  individual. 

It  is,  in  short,  a  rude,  primitive,  rough,  and  ignorant 
race,  absolutely  under  Turkish  sway  and  terribly  op- 
pressed. Little  progress  has  yet  been  made  in  the  line 
of  mission  work  among  them.     The  Turks  guard  them  with 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


a  jealous  eye,  and  the  severest  persecutions  await  all  who 
profess  Christianity,  and  every  effort  is  made  to  prevent 
their  education  and  general  enlightenment. 

THE   MARONITES 

The  Syrian  Maronites  number  not  less  than  250,000  and 
are  scattered  all  over  the  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon 
ranges.  They  are  found  in  largest  numbers  in  the  north- 
ern districts  of  Lebanon  and  there  they  have  control  of 
local  affairs.  They  are  also  found  as  far  south  as  Mount 
Hermon  in  the  country  of  the  Druses.  The  hostility  of 
these  two  races  led  to  the  massacres  of  1860  in  which  thou- 
sands of  the  Maronites  were  slain.  They  take  their  name 
from  John  Maron,  their  first  patriarch  and  political  leader, 
who  died  in  701  a.  d.  They  were  mixed  up  with  the 
Monophysite  controversy  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  cen- 
turies. Li  an  attempt  to  reconcile  them,  John  Maron,  a 
MonotheMte  (one  will)  leader,  at  the  time  of  the  Moslem 
invasion,  conducted  them  into  the  high  mountains  of  the 
Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon,  where  for  five  hundred  years 
they  maintained  their  independent  existence  in  the  face  of 
every  attempt  to  subdue  or  dislodge  them.  They  devel- 
oped qualities  of  manly  strength  and  industry.  Their 
language  was  the  Syrian  and  their  government  a  simple 
feudal  system.  They  had  a  patriarch  with  Episcopal 
dioceses  at  Aleppo,  Balbek,  Jebeil,  Tripoli,  Ehden,  Da- 
mascus, Beirut,  Tyre,  and  Cyprus. 

This  interesting  people  was  discovered  to  the  world  by 
the  Crusaders  and  through  them  were  brought  under  the 
wing  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  at  the  Council  of 
Florence  in  1445.  They  adopted  the  Arabic  language  but 
retained   their   old   Syriac   ritual.      They  are  to-day  rec- 

[54  1 


RACE   QUESTIONS   AND    SOME   OF   THE   RACES 

ognized  as  followers  of  the  Church  of  Rome  with  a  form 
of  worship  somewhat  modified  to  meet  their  special  condi- 
tions. The  Jesuits  and  forces  of  the  Catholic  Church  have 
made  every  effort  to  prevent  the  Protestant  missionaries 
from  getting  a  foothold  among  them.  Much,  however,  has 
been  done  for  them  by  both  the  Presbyterian  Board  North, 
and  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  The  Irish  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Damascus  is  reaching  the  Maronites  in  that  part 
of  the  country.  Education  is  greatly  transforming  the 
race  and  through  this  they  are  becoming  more  and  more 
responsive  to  evangelical  religion. 

THE   DRUSES 

The  Druses  are  a  smaller  sect  numbering  probably  not 
more  than  100,000,  possibly  less,  and  occupying  the  Leba- 
non and  Anti-Lebanon  in  touch  with  the  Maronites.  They 
are  found  as  far  north  as  Beirut  and  as  far  south  as  Tyre, 
extending  even  to  Damascus.  Their  chief  town  is  Deir-el- 
Kamor,  about  fifteen  miles  southeast  of  Beirut.  They  are 
decidedly  a  mixed  race  with  the  blood  of  the  Crusaders 
mingling  with  that  of  native  and  invading  peoples.  They 
are  a  people  of  an  unusually  high  order  of  intelligence  and 
outward  refinement.  They  are  an  offshoot  of  the  Moham- 
medans through  the  fanatical,  if  not  insane,  leadership  of 
one  of  the  caliphs  of  Egypt  who  began  to  reign  in  996. 
One  Darazi  who  made  known  the  claims  of  the  caliph  to 
divine  incarnation  led  these  people  into  the  mountains  of 
Lebanon  and  is  supposed  to  have  given  them  his  own  name. 

They  believe  in  one  God  and  in  a  fixed  number  of  human 
souls  that  can  never  be  increased  or  diminished.  This  re- 
semblance to  the  religions  of  India  is  probably  due  to  Per- 
sian teaching.  They  recognize  the  claims  upon  them  of  no 
other  religion,  and  yet  with  manifest  indifference  they  join 

[55] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


in  the  prayers  of  the  Mohammedans  in  their  mosques 
and  sprinkle  the  holy  water  of  the  Catholic  Church  with 
the  Maronites,  according  as  expediency  n^ay  require. 
They  have  seven   commandments: 

1.  Speaking  the  truth  (only  between  Druses,  however). 

2.  Combination  for  mutual  defense. 

3.  Renunciation  of  all  other  creeds. 

4.  Social  separation  from  all  who  are  in  error. 

5.  Recognition  of  the  unity  of  Hakim  with  God. 

6.  Complete  resignation  of  the  will. 

7.  Obedience  to  orders. 

They  believe  in  free  will  and  reject  the  fatalism  of  the 
Mohammedans. 

When  the  Mohammedans  inaugurated  the  massacre  of 
the  Maronites  to  check  their  growing  strength  under  Chris- 
tian enlightenment,  the  Druses  joined  with  the  Turks  as 
the  enemies  of  Christianity.  It  was  this  massacre  which 
led  to  the  intervention  of  Europe,  resulting  in  the  ex- 
clusion of  Turkish  officials  from  the  Lebanon  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  special  government  for  that  district  with 
a  Roman  Catholic  governor  and  a  mixed  council  under  a 
constitution  drawn  by  the  European  Powers.  This  has 
made  a  great  change  in  the  Lebanon,  affording  the  people 
of  that  vilayet  larger  freedom  of  action  and  greater  exemp- 
tion from  Turkish  persecution  than  are  enjoyed  in  any 
other  part  of  the  Turkish  empire.  The  Druses  and 
JNIaronites  live  on  terms  of  harmony.  They  are  a  brave, 
fine-looking  and  enterprising  people,  living  mostly  by 
agriculture. 

THE  JEWS 

The  Jews  are  too  well  known  in  both  ancient  and  modem 
history  to  demand  space  here.     Wliile  they  are  found  in 


RACE    QUESTIONS   AND    SOME   OF   THE   RACES 

considerable  numbers  in  Syria,  possibly  as  many  as  eighty 
thousand,  they  do  not  hold  an  important  position  in  rela- 
tion to  the  government  of  that  country,  or  in  the  mission 
problems.  While  the  Jews  in  Russia  are  always  at  the 
front,  in  Turkey  they  seldom  appear.  The  Turks  seem  to 
have  no  fear  that  they  will  interfere  in  any  way  with  the 
affairs  of  state. 

They  do  not  command  the  prominence  commercially  in 
Turkey  that  they  do  in  most  other  countries.  In  the  city 
of  Constantinople  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  seventy-five 
thousand  Jews,  and  in  the  other  large  cities  of  the  empire 
they  exist  in  smaller  numbers.  They  are  an  inoffensive 
people,  attending  to  their  own  affairs  and  not  interfering 
with  the  other  races,  all  of  whom  look  down  upon  them 
as  inferior.  In  many  places  in  the  interior  where  they 
appear  in  small  numbers  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  ex- 
tremely poor. 

SYRIANS   OR  JACOBITES 

There  is  probably  no  distinct  race  in  Turkey  that  may 
be  called  Syrian.  Dwelling  in  Syria  and  extending  north 
into  Mesopotamia  and  east  towards  Persia  are  Christian 
peoples  who  do  not  belong  to  any  of  the  races  mentioned, 
but  who  are  the  direct  descendants  of  the  early  Christian 
Church.  This  country  has  been  the  great  meeting-ground 
of  nations,  over  wliich  have  swept  from  time  to  time  Egyp- 
tians, Greeks,  Armenians,  Persians,  Mongols,  Koords,  and 
Europeans  of  every  name  and  race.  The  presence  of  the 
sacred  places  of  the  Christian  faith  has  called  forth  pil- 
grimages and  given  occasion  for  conflicts.  It  was  here 
that  the  early  Christian  Church  was  named,  and  here  have 
dwelt  some  of  the  greatest  of  the  fathers  of  the  early 
Greek    Church,    such    as    Ignatius,    Justin    Martyr,    and 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Jerome.  In  those  earlier  days  missionary  influences  went 
out  from  that  land  to  other  regions  and  countries. 

Under  the  special  effort  of  Constantine  and  his  mother, 
Helena,  pilgrims  began  to  turn  their  steps  towards  Pales- 
tine, and  monasteries  sprang  up  all  over  the  country. 
When  Chosroes  of  Persia  swept  over  that  land,  he  slaugh- 
tered Christian  monks  by  the  thousand.  Then  came  the 
Arabs  with  Mohammedanism,  who  converted  some  of  the 
churches  into  mosques,  but  left  others  for  the  service  of 
the  Christians.  Many  Syrians  accepted  Islam  and  the 
strength  of  the  Church  waned.  At  the  time  of  the  crusades 
there  were  not  more  than  five  hundred  thousand  Christians 
in  the  country,  according  to  some  estimates.  To  win  these 
the  Roman  pontiff  had  made  prodigious  efforts,  but  for 
the  most  part  they  refused  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy 
of  the  pope. 

The  Syrian  Church,  therefore,  is  the  remnant  which 
remains  from  the  conflicts  and  persecutions  of  the  last 
eight  centuries.  It  does  not  represent  a  single  race  or 
people,  but  is  able  to  trace  its  pedigree  as  a  church  back 
to  the  very  beginnings  of  Christianity.  The  remnants  of 
this  early  church  are  found  throughout  Palestine  and 
northern  Syria,  including  Damascus.  They  are  found 
also  in  Mosul,  Mardin,  and  northern  Mesopotamia  in  con- 
siderable numbers.  In  the  northern  regions  they  are  some- 
times called  Jacobites.  There  are  many  strong  men  among 
them  and  in  some  places  not  a  little  of  the  pride  and  glory 
of  the  old  church  remains.  Some  of  their  old  churches 
and  monasteries  contain  valuable  manuscripts  in  the  Syriac 
language  of  ancient  date.  The  spoken  language  of  these 
people  is  now,  for  the  most  part,  Arabic. 

They  have  suffered  much  persecution  from  the  Moham- 
medans,  especially    from    the    Suljuk    Turks,   which   had 


[58  1 


RACE    QUESTIONS    AND    SOME   OF   THE   RACES 

much  influence  in  arousing  the  knighthood  of  Europe  to 
enter  upon  the  crusades.  After  the  failure  of  the  crusades 
these  Christians  were  again  subject  to  Moslem  misrule  at 
the  hands  of  the  Mohammedan  sultans  of  Egypt  and  in- 
vaders from  Turkey.  The  whole  land  was  conquered  in 
1517  by  the  Ottoman  Turk,  Sehm  I.  Except  for  the  brief 
period  ( 1832-1841 )  when  Syria  was  held  by  Ibrahim  Pasha, 
this  country  and  this  church  have  been  under  the  rule  of  the 
sultan  who  sat  upon  the  throne  in  Constantinople. 

As  the  manuscript  Bibles,  Hturgy,  and  church  books 
were  in  Syriac,  while  the  common  people  spoke  and  under- 
stood only  the  Arabic,  Christianity  became  largely  a 
matter  of  form  from  which  the  spirit  had  departed.  The 
same  conditions  prevailed  here  which  we  shall  discuss  later 
in  the  Gregorian  Church. 

THE   GREEKS 

The  Greeks  claim  that  they  have  the  oldest  Christian 
Church,  since  they  are  the  heirs  to  the  old  Byzantine 
empire  at  Constantinople,  and  use  even  now  in  their  wor- 
ship the  Greek  of  the  apostles  and  the  liturgy  of  the  early 
fathers.  They  constituted  the  majority  at  the  first  seven 
ecumenical  councils,  dominating  in  no  small  degree  by 
their  philosophy  and  thought  the  doctrines  there  estab- 
lished. They  contend  with  the  Syrian  Church  over  pri- 
ority of  origin.  The  political  history  of  the  Greek  Church 
began  with  the  conversion  of  Constantine  in  312  a.  d., 
when  persecution  ceased  and  Christianity  became  the  state 
religion. 

We  do  not  need  for  our  present  purpose  to  trace  the 
history  of  the  Church  of  Constantinople  down  to  its  sepa- 
ration from  the  Church  of  Rome  in  1054,  and  the  capture 
of  the  city  by  the  Turks  in  1453. 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


During  this  period  the  Church  conducted  a  vigorous 
missionary  propaganda.  Cyril  and  Methodius  went  into 
Thessalonica  and  Bulgaria  and  there  did  substantial  fun- 
damental Christian  work.  Russia  was  also  reached  from 
this  center  and  the  czar  was  baptized  and  the  nation  be- 
came Christian. 

In  government,  the  Greek  Church  is  Episcopal.  The 
temporal  power  centers  in  the  patriarch.  There  are  sev- 
eral of  these,  the  chief  of  whom  resides  at  Constantinople, 
although  the  patriarchs  at  Antioch,  Alexandria,  and  Jeru- 
salem have  nominally  the  same  authority.  Under  Turk- 
ish rule  the  office  of  the  patriarch  has  been  exalted  into 
practically  the  head  of  the  Church,  the  bishops  exercis- 
ing spiritual  authority  alone.  This  arrangement  is  the 
same  that  exists  in  the  Gregorian  Church,  as  we  shall 
see  later.  The  general  synod,  made  up  of  the  bishops  of 
the  surrounding  provinces,  is  presided  over  by  the  patri- 
archs, whom  they  are  supposed  to  elect,  but  whose  elec- 
tion must  always  be  confirmed  by  the  sultan  of  Turkey. 
The  authority  by  which  the  patriarch  acts  comes  from 
a  firman  or  charter  granted  by  the  sultan. 

In  1833  the  branch  of  the  Greek  Church  now  included 
in  the  kingdom  of  Greece  severed  itself  from  primary 
dependence  upon  the  patriarch  at  Constantinople.  The 
Church  of  Russia,  up  to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, was  holden  to  the  Constantinople  patriarch  to  con- 
firm the  primate  of  Moscow.  Peter  the  Great  in  171S 
curtailed  the  authority  of  this  primate,  putting  in  his 
place  the  Holy  Synod,  over  which  the  czar  is  supreme. 
These  changes  left  the  patriarch  at  Constantinople  with 
authority  over  only  the  Greek  churches  within  the  bounds 
of  the  Turkish  empire.  The  Greek  Church  of  Roumania 
and    Servia    soon    became    independent   and   in    1870    the 


[60] 


EACE    QUESTIONS   AND    SOME   OF    THE   RACES 

Church  of  Bulgaria  withdrew  and  reunited  under  one 
chief  bishop  called  the  Bulgarian  exarch. 

One  prominent  fact  that  must  be  constantly  kept  in 
mind  is  that  after  these  churches  had  separated  from  the 
mother  Church  and  become  independent  of  her  control,  they 
constituted  what  is  virtually  another  Church.  Relations 
one  with  the  other  were  completely  severed,  and  often  vio- 
lent hostility  prevailed.  In  1905  a  severe  and  bloody  con- 
flict was  waged  in  Macedonia  between  officers  of  the  Greek 
Church  who  claimed  allegiance  to  the  Synod  at  Athens, 
and  officers  of  the  same  Church  who  recognized  as  their 
head  the  Bulgarian  exarch.  Hostility  was  as  severe  and 
bloody  as  between  Moslems  and  Christians.  Church  build- 
ings were  captured,  the  one  from  the  other,  and  loyal  sub- 
jects fought  to  the  death  in  resistance  of  these  attacks. 
This  is  a  fact  that  must  be  taken  into  consideration  as 
the  various  Churches  and  Christian  sects  in  that  part  of 
the  world  are  studied  and  their  relation  to  Mohammedanism 
and  the  Turkish  empire  weighed. 

We  are  not  especially  concerned  here  with  the  peculiar 
beliefs  of  this  Church.  We  are  not  dealing  with  the  ques- 
tion from  a  theological  standpoint,  but  from  the  general 
standpoint  of  its  relations  to  the  government  of  Turkey 
and  to  the  other  coreligionists  within  the  empire. 

The  most  of  the  adherents  of  the  Greek  Church  within 
the  Turkish  empire  are  Greeks.  They  are  a  strong,  hardy, 
vigorous  and  intelligent  race.  Many  of  them  are  direct 
descendants,  without  doubt,  of  mighty  men  of  valor  who 
held  their  own  in  the  face  of  overpowering  odds  in  the  early 
days  of  Greek  chivalry.  In  Constantinople,  where  some 
175,000  live  to-day,  they  stand  first  among  the  bankers 
and  leading  merchants.  Greeks  figure  largely  in  Smyrna 
and  in  fact  in  all  of  the  cities  of  western  Asia  Minor,  while 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


they  are  found  as  far  in  the  interior  as  Marsovan,  Caesarea 
and  Sivas.  As  one  goes  still  farther  east,  Greeks  for  the 
most  part  disappear  and  their  place  in  trade  and  commerce 
is  taken  by  Armenians.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  along 
the  upper  Tigris  and  Euphrates  rivers,  where  mines  exist, 
in  many  instances  there  is  a  colony  of  Greeks  close  by. 
Tradition  reports  that  these  are  descendants  of  the  men 
left  behind  in  the  famous  retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand 
across  that  country  to  Trebizond  upon  the  Black  Sea. 

These  Greeks,  while  citizens  of  Turkey,  it  may  be,  for 
fifty  generations,  not  infrequently  refer  to  the  king  of 
Greece  as  "  our  king  George."  Along  the  borders  of 
Macedonia  towards  Greece  they  cause  the  sultan  much 
trouble  by  their  sympathy  with  that  kingdom  rather 
than  with  him.  For  the  most  part,  throughout  Turkey 
they  are  quiet  and  give  little  trouble  by  revolutionary 
propagandism. 

In  educational  institutions  the  Greek  youth  show  su- 
perior intellectual  ability  and  unusual  eagerness.  In  com- 
mercial affairs  they  rank  second  to  no  other  race  and  as 
merchants  they  have  already  gone  into  all  the  earth. 
Destitute  of  the  intense  national  feeling  of  the  Armenians, 
they  have  not  given  the  Turkish  government  the  trouble 
and  anxiety  that  the  Armenians  have  caused.  As  their 
fatherland  is  outside  the  borders  of  the  present  Turkish 
empire  there  is  no  fear  upon  the  part  of  the  Turkish 
rulers  that  they  will  attempt  to  set  up  an  independent 
government.  They  have  not,  therefore,  suffered  the  per- 
secution that  has  been  laid  upon  the  Armenians. 


[02] 


THE  ARMENIANS 


When  I  was  in  Constantinople  I  felt  the  restless  tossings  of  long  en- 
thralled nationalities  awaking  to  the  new  destinies  that  might  be  theirs  — 
Armenians  thirsting  for  their  lost  country  and  dispersed  people ;  Bulgarians 
panting  and  striving  for  freedom  in  a  Greater  Bulgaria ;  Egyptians  claiming 
independence ;  Jews  praying  for  a  return  to  the  land  of  David  and  Solomon ; 
Greeks  dreaming  strange  dreams  of  a  greater  and  united  Greece,  yes,  even 
of  an  eastern  empire  restored  to  them,  with  Constantinople  as  its  centre.  I 
saw  the  Turk,  still  defiant  but  apprehensive,  dimly  conscious  that  the  end  is 
near  at  hand,  lamenting  the  sins  of  his  people  —  such  sins  as  that  the  women 
do  not  wholly  veil  their  faces,  that  the  men  do  not  slay  the  infidels.  I  discerned 
the  subtle  plotting  of  diplomacy  to  guard  or  gain  the  Queen  City,  and  so  the 
empire  of  the  East.  Everything  seemed  then,  as  now,  uncertain.  It  might  be 
peace,  it  might  be  war;  but  all  were  sm-e  that  the  old  was  breaking  up, 
whether  to  make  way  for  inrushing  floods  of  destruction,  or  for  better  days  and 
nobler  nations,  none  could  tell.  Then  I  went  to  the  most  sacred  and  vital 
spot  of  Stamboul,  not  to  St.  Sophia,  which,  with  all  the  lights  and  prayers  of 
Ramazan,  testified  only  to  the  degradation  and  defeat  of  the  purer  by  a 
coarser  faith,  which  had  become  God's  scourge.  I  went  to  the  Bible  House, 
and  there  first,  while  all  was  shaking  about,  I  felt  that  I  stood  upon  a  rock, 
the  very  Rock  of  Ages.  The  old  city  had  fallen  because  it  was  built  upon  a 
shut  Bible;  this  city  was  about  to  fall  because  it  was  built  upon  the  Koran. 
But  here  on  the  open  Bible  was  being  reared  a  city  which  hath  a  foundation 
whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.  —  Edwakd  A.  Lawrence  in  "Modern 
Missions  in  the  East." 


VI.    THE  ARMENIANS 

OF  all  the  races  and  sects  of  the  Ottoman  empire, 
none  except  the  Turks  are  so  closely  identified  with 
the  country,  its  progress  and  present  conditions, 
as  the  Armenians.  They  have  been  preeminently  the 
means  and  occasion  for  prosecuting  missionary  work  there, 
and  the  Armenian  question  has  been  discussed  in  the  par- 
liaments of  all  Europe  and  even  now  is  far  from  solution. 

The  Armenians  constitute  one  of  the  two  distinct  Chris- 
tian peoples  in  the  empire,  the  other  being  the  Greeks. 
They  stand  with  the  Greeks,  a  keen  rival  for  the  honors  of 
antiquity,  while  from  the  Christian  standpoint  they  hold  a 
position  entirely  unique.  Their  antiquity,  racial  strength, 
intellectual  alertness,  large  numbers,  and  importance  in 
that  empire  all  demand  a  more  extended  consideration. 

There  are  two  distinct  sources  from  which  account  of 
them  comes,  —  one,  their  own  historians,  and  the  other, 
contemporary  historians.  According  to  the  former,  they 
are  the  direct  descendants  from  Noah  through  Japheth, 
who  was  the  father  of  Gomer,  the  father  of  Togarmah, 
who  begat  Haig,  the  father  of  the  Armenian  race.  It  is 
a  fact  to  be  noted  here  that  they  always  refer  to  them- 
selves not  as  Armenians  but  as  Haiks,  and  to  their  coun- 
try as  Haiasdan.  They  find  no  Httle  diflSculty  in  pro- 
nouncing the  word  "  Armenia."  The  name  "  Armenians  " 
was  applied  to  the  race  by  outside  nations  because  of  the 
exploits  of  one  Aram,  the  king  of  Haiasdan,  the  seventh 
removed  from  Haik,  who  made  many  conquests  and  im- 
pressed the  power  of  his  arms  upon  the  weaker  people 
about  him.     To  these  people  the  Haiks  were  the  followers 

5  r  65  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


of  Aram  and  so  were  called  Armenians.  The  Armenians 
claim  that  their  present  language,  except  for  the  changes 
that  have  crept  in  through  the  centuries,  was  spoken  in 
the  ark.  Their  traditions  blend  in  the  third  and  fourth 
centuries  before  Christ  with  many  facts  of  Assyrian, 
Median,  and  Greek  history,  so  it  is  impossible  to  differen- 
tiate precisely  where  legend  ends  and  history  begins. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  during  the  Assyrian  and  Median 
period  there  was  in  Armenia,  which  included  the  mountains 
of  Ararat,  and  the  upper  Araxes,  Euphrates  and  Tigris 
rivers,  centering  perhaps  in  the  region  of  Lake  Van,  a 
well-organized  and  powerful  monarchy.  The  ancient  As- 
syrian records  show  that  this  people  had  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  all  plans  for  campaigns  in  the  Ararat  country, 
and  not  infrequently  the  invaders  were  compelled  to  retire 
in  apparent  haste.  Well-preserved  inscriptions  are  found 
upon  the  cliffs  at  Van  and  in  the  same  language  across 
the  country  six  hundred  miles  or  more  to  the  east,  which 
show  the  presence  there  (700  b.  c.)  of  a  powerful  and  war- 
like people.  Whether  these  were  the  progenitors  of  the 
present  Armenian  race  or  whether  they  were  conquered 
by  some  stronger  invading  force,  which  completely  domi- 
nated the  country,  is  not  as  yet  clear. 

The  last  of  the  Haig  dynasty,  Vahe,  formed  an  alliance 
with  Darius  III  against  the  Macedonians.  He  was  de- 
feated by  the  forces  under  Alexander  and  was  slain.  The 
people  were  without  a  leader  for  one  hundred  and  thirty 
years,  and  were  trampled  upon  and  plundered  by  invad- 
ing armies  from  every  side.  About  190  b.  c.  two  Armenian 
nobles  arose  who  divided  the  kingdom  and  ruled  over  it. 
This  divided  kingdom  was  again  united  under  Tigranes 
(Dickran  II)  in  89  b.  c.  In  67  b.  c.  the  Armenians  be- 
came an  ally  of  Rome,  and  in  30  b.  c.  were  made  tributary. 


[66] 


THE    ARMENIANS 


For  two  and  a  half  centuries  thereafter  the  entire  country 
was  again  in  turmoil  and  political  disorder.  From  that 
time  to  the  present  the  Armenians  have  never  represented 
a  political  power  that  needed  to  be  reckoned  with.  Their 
people  were  scattered  with  no  uniting  force,  without  a 
commanding  leader  or  a  distinctive  country. 

A  little  Armenian  kingdom  in  Cihcia  in  the  Taurus 
Mountains  maintained  an  existence  until  1375  a.  d.  Since 
that  time  Armenians  have  had  no  political  existence  what- 
ever. They  have  been,  and  are  still,  a  people  without  a 
country,  a  nation  without  a  government. 

As  soon  as  the  Mohammedan  invasion  took  place  they 
had  no  alternative  but  to  yield  to  their  conquerors  or  die. 
It  was  but  natural  that  they  should  scatter  from  the  old 
ancestral  haunts  to  all  points  of  the  compass,  in  search 
of  more  hberty  and  a  better  opportunity  to  secure  a 
living.  They  have  gone  into  every  city,  if  not  into  nearly 
every  village  of  size  in  the  empire.  Before  the  massacre 
of  1895—96  there  were  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  Ar- 
menians in  Constantinople  alone.  Their  energy  and  enter- 
prise and  industry  give  them  prominence  in  trade,  in  the 
professions,  and  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  They  have 
gone  far  beyond  the  borders  of  Turkey,  and  are  found 
to-day  in  nearly  every  country  in  the  world.  Many  hold 
high  and  honorable  positions  in  foreign  lands. 

Armenians  exist  in  larger  numbers  still  in  their  old 
haunts  about  Lake  Van,  where  they  constitute  perhaps  a 
majority  of  the  population.  In  all  the  cities  of  Eastern 
Turkey,  extending  from  the  Black  Sea  south  into  northern 
Mesopotamia,  westward  to  the  Euphrates  river,  and  be- 
yond, they  hold  a  prominent  place,  although  they  are 
upon  the  whole  a  minority.  The  rest  of  the  population 
are  mostly  Turks,  the  ruling  body,  and  the  Koords.    These 


67  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


races,  especially  the  Turks  and  Armenians,  live  in  the  same 
towns,  but  never  intermarry.  The  Koords  live  more  by 
themselves  in  the  mountains.  As  we  pass  on  into  Asia 
Minor,  the  Armenians  decrease  while  the  Greeks  increase 
in  numbers  and  in  the  importance  of  the  positions  they 
command. 

The  Armenians  are  also  numerous  in  northern  Syria, 
especially  in  the  region  near  their  last  Cilician  kingdom. 
Adana,  Tarsus,  Marash,  Aintab,  Hadjin,  Oorfa  and  many 
other  cities  in  that  region  have  a  large  Armenian  popula- 
tion. Their  language  is  Turanian,  constructed  upon  the 
Greek  model,  and  is  especially  rich  in  its  power  of  ex- 
pressing Christian  truths  and  sentiments.  The  most  of 
the  Armenians  speak  this  tongue,  but  some  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Koordistan  speak  only  Koordish,  while  the  Ar- 
menians in  northern  Syria  use  the  Turkish  language. 
Turkish  is  spoken  by  nearly  all  Armenians,  as  well  as 
by  all  the  races  north  of  Syria. 

ReUgiously,  the  history  of  the  Armenians  is  full  of 
interest.  Their  histories  claim  that  at  the  time  of  Christ 
their  king  Abgar,  called  by  Tacitus  the  king  of  the  Arabs, 
resided  at  Urfa  in  northern  Mesopotamia.  He  is  reported 
to  have  had  some  communication  with  Christ,  who,  at 
his  death,  through  the  apostle  Thomas,  sent  Thaddeus 
to  preach  to  the  Armenians.  The  king  and  his  court  were 
baptized.  His  successor  apostatized  from  the  faith,  and 
so  Christianity  was  lost  to  the  race  until  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. At  the  beginning  of  this  century  St.  Gregory  the 
Illuminator  preached  at  the  court  of  Armenia  with  such 
effect  that  from  that  period  to  this  Christianity  has  been 
the  national  rehgion.  The  Church  has  held  the  race  to- 
gether. It  is  known  as  the  Gregorian  Church,  after  St. 
Gregory,  while  the  people  themselves  always  refer  to  their 


[G8] 


O      ^T^ 


THE    ARMENIANS 


church  as  Loosavorchagan,  derived  from  Loosavorich, 
meaning  "  The  Illuminator."  As  this  is  the  national 
Church,  all  Armenian  children  are  baptized  in  infancy  and 
become  members. 

At  first  the  Gregorian  Church  took  part  in  the  ecu- 
menical conferences,  but  for  some  reason  they  had  no  rep- 
resentatives in  the  council  which  met  at  Chalcedon  in 
451  A.  D.  In  a  synod  of  Armenian  bishops  in  491  the 
decisions  of  the  council  of  Chalcedon  were  rejected,  and 
at  a  later  synod  they  declared  openly  for  the  Monophysite 
doctrine.  This  led  to  their  complete  separation  from  the 
Greek  Church. 

Their  church  government  is  Episcopal,  with  the  same 
form  of  patriarchal  control  which  dominates  the  Greek 
Church  in  Turkey.  The  bishop  of  the  main  body  of  the 
Armenians  resides  at  Etchmiadzin,  their  holy  city,  now  in 
Russia,  not  far  from  the  Turkish  borders.  There  is  also 
a  bishop  on  the  island  of  Octamar  in  the  lake  of  Van, 
and  another  at  Cis  in  Cilicia,  each  with  a  small  following. 
The  bishops  have  authority  over  the  spiritual  affairs  of 
the  Church,  like  the  ordaining  of  priests  and  vartabeds, 
while  the  two  patriarchs,  one  at  Jerusalem  and  one  at 
Constantinople,  control  its  temporal  affairs.  As  these 
patriarchs,  and  especially  the  one  at  Constantinople,  are 
in  a  measure  the  appointees  of  the  sultan,  and  as  he  repre- 
sents his  people  in  all  their  government  matters,  the  office 
is  largely  political  and  secular.  The  importance  as  well 
as  the  delicacy  of  the  position  is  greatly  increased  during 
the  times  of  political  unrest. 

At  its  beginning,  the  Church  was  as  pure  in  doctrine 
and  practise  as  was  the  Greek  Church  at  Constantinople. 
It  was  an  important  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ  on 
earth.     The  location  of  the  unprotected  Armenians,  in  a 

[69  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


country  swept  by  invasion  and  persecutors  of  every  kind, 
made  the  position  of  the  Church  a  most  trying  one.  As 
ilhteracy  increased,  the  spoken  language  of  the  people 
undenvent  marked  changes.  The  Church  possessed  most 
sacredly  guarded  manuscript  copies  of  the  Scriptures 
and  beautiful  liturgies,  all  in  the  then  spoken  language 
of  the  people.  These  were  read  at  all  church  services 
and  sermons  were  preached  by  the  officiating  clergy.  As 
the  spoken  language  changed  during  the  last  ten  cen- 
turies, under  the  blasting  influence  of  Mohammedan  rule, 
the  sacred  books  of  the  Church  ceased  to  speak  to  the 
people.  The  priests  read  the  words  of  the  ritual,  but 
neither  they  nor  the  people  understood  it.  The  church  was 
too  holy  a  place  in  which  to  make  use  of  the  vulgar  ver- 
nacular, so  the  sermon  was  discontinued  because  there 
was  no  one  to  preach  in  the  classic  tongue  of  the  race. 
Under  these  conditions  the  Christianity  of  the  Gre- 
gorian Church  became,  for  the  most  part,  a  religion  of 
form,  from  which  the  spirit  had  departed.  Thus  bereft  of 
the  true  power  of  Christianity  and  subject  to  the  tempta- 
tions and  persecutions  of  the  Moslems  among  whom  they 
dwelt,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  Christianity  of  the  Gre- 
gorian Church  lost  its  vital  power. 


[70] 


MOSLEM  PEOPLES 


What  was  said  above  concerning  Islam  as  the  hereditary  faith  of  the 
Ottoman  Turk  does  not  hold  true  of  the  other  Moslem  races  of  Turkey. 
Koords,  Circassians,  Albanians  —  nearly  half  as  many,  all  together,  as  the 
Turks  —  are,  at  best,  but  half  Mohammedan.  To  a  large  extent  the  profes- 
sion of  Islam  by  Koords  and  Circassians  is  purely  outward  and  formal,  while 
their  esoteric  faith  is  a  mixture  of  Mohammedanism,  Christianity  and 
heathenism.  In  grouping  and  generahzation  we  cannot  go  farther  than  the 
statement  just  made.  Take  the  Koords  alone.  There  is  almost  infinite 
variety  in  their  religious  behefs  and  superstitions.  It  is  well  known  that  there 
are  whole  villages  among  them  ready  to  declare  themselves  Christians,  could 
they  be  assured  of  protection  in  so  doing.  The  Moslem  Albanians  —  some- 
what more  than  half  the  race  —  are  more  bigoted  and  violent  Mohammedans 
than  the  Turks,  just  as  the  Janissaries,  likewise  of  Christian  origin,  who  were 
compelled  from  childhood  to  embrace  Islam,  out-Heroded  Herod  in  the 
fanaticism  of  their  anti-Christian  zeal. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Albanians,  Islam  has,  in  all  the  centuries  of  the 
reign  of  the  Ottoman  Power  over  these  lands,  made  very  slight  gains  from  the 
Christian  races.  The  number  of  Greek,  Armenian,  Bulgarian,  Roumanian, 
Servian,  Bosnian,  or  Montenegrin  Mohammedans  is  insignificant.  Of  these 
seven  races,  for  hundreds  of  years  under  Moslem  sway,  the  number  to-day 
free  from  Ottoman  control  is  nearly  equal  to  the  entire  population,  Moslem 
and  Christian,  now  directly  under  Turkish  domination.  —  From  "  The  Mo- 
hammedan World  of  To-day." 


VII.    MOSLEM  PEOPLES 

THE   KOORDS 

BESIDES  the  Turks  and  Armenians,  no  race  in  Tur- 
key has  commanded  more  attention  during  the  past 
two  decades  than  the  Koords.  They  have  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  world  by  their  large  part  in  the  Armenian 
massacres  in  1895—96  as  well  as  by  their  relations  to  the 
sultan  himself  through  the  organization  and  arming  of 
the  Hamidieh  cavalry  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury. They  were  almost  unknown  and  unheard-of  except 
locally  until  they  came  into  prominence  at  the  time  of  the 
siege  of  Erzerum  by  the  Russians  in  1876,  when  the  Koords 
were  used  by  the  Turks  in  defense.  They  rendered  little 
real  service,  however. 

Whatever  else  may  be  said,  this  race  has  now  to  be 
reckoned  with  in  all  plans  for  propagating  Christianity 
in  any  form  in  Eastern  Turkey  and  western  Persia,  as 
well  as  in  all  questions  of  order  in  that  region.  Some- 
times they  are  in  open  conflict  with  the  Turks,  and  troops 
are  mobilized  and  sent  against  them  in  their  mountain 
fastnesses.  Again  they  are  provided  with  arms  by  the 
government  and  sent  out  to  subdue  and  suppress  revolu- 
tionary bands  of  Armenians  who  are  more  ambitious  than 
discreet  in  their  endeavors  to  obtain  liberty. 

Little  is  known  of  the  origin  and  history  of  this  wild 
and  most  interesting  people.  They  probably  are  the 
direct  descendants  of  the  Karduchi,  who  occupied  the 
same  plateaus  and  commanded  the  same  mountain  passes 
that  the  Koords  now  hold.     It  is  probable  that  they  are 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


not  a  race  by  themselves,  but  a  collection  of  tribes  with 
little  among  them  all  that  is  common  except  their  hardi- 
hood, roughness,  and  tendency  to  plunder.  One  chief, 
whom  the  writer  knew,  declared  that  his  ancestors  came  to 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Tigris  from  Mesopotamia  some 
eight  centuries  ago,  and,  after  conquering  the  region, 
ruled  it  as  feudal  lords.  That  form  of  government  is  in 
existence  among  them  even  at  the  present  time.  Undoubt- 
edly the  word  Koord,  Kurd,  Gutu,  Gardu,  or  Karu,  has 
been  promiscuously  applied  to  any  mountain  race,  clan, 
or  tribe  occupying  the  upper  waters  of  the  great  rivers 
in  that  part  of  the  empire,  if  they  were  not  already 
claimed  by  another  race. 

There  are  some  marked  distinctions  between  the  peoples 
called  Koords.  Some  are  nomadic  and  pastoral,  taking 
their  flocks  into  the  north  of  Armenia  as  the  summer  ad- 
vances, and  returning  to  the  warmer  regions  of  the  south  as 
it  recedes.  These  live  almost  entirely  in  black  tents,  and, 
while  they  steal,  are  not  generally  robbers.  Others  settle 
in  villages  and  the  men  devote  their  time  usually  to  robbing 
traders  and  caravans  passing  through  their  country,  and 
levying  blackmail  upon  the  Armenians  who  dwell  upon 
their  borders.  It  is  this  class  who  cause  both  the  Turkish 
government  and  the  Armenians  the  most  trouble.  A  chief, 
whom  the  writer  knew  personally,  and  at  whose  castle 
he  has  often  passed  the  night,  boasted  that  he  owned 
nearly  four  hundred  villages  with  the  adjacent  land,  and 
could  throw,  within  two  days'  notice,  two  thousand  armed 
horsemen  into  a  fight  anywhere  within  the  bounds  of  his 
territory.  He  said  that  he  had  over  three  hundred  armed 
men  out  upon  the  road  most  of  the  time.  His  castle  had 
dungeons,  and  was,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  a  fort. 

These   various    Koordish   leaders   not   only   have   little 


[74] 


MOSLEM    PEOPLES 


in  common,  but  they  are  frequently  in  open  conflict  one 
with  another.  Could  these  people  unite  under  a  bold  leader 
and  form  an  alliance  with  the  Arabs  of  the  south,  nothing 
in  Turkey  could  stand  against  them.  Many  renowned 
leaders  from  among  the  Koords  have  appeared  from  time 
to  time.  Saladin,  a  noted  ameer  at  the  time  of  the  cru- 
sades, was  a  Koord. 

They  occupy  the  mountainous  regions  throughout  East- 
ern Turkey,  reaching  far  down  the  Tigris  to  Mosul  and 
into  Mesopotamia,  extending  into  Persia  upon  the  east  and 
coming  west  as  far  even  as  Anatolia.  The  mass  of  the 
Koords  dwell  within  this  area,  but  not  a  few  are  found  out- 
side. An  estimate  given  of  their  numbers  places  it  as  high 
as  3,000,000. 

Their  languages  are  unclassified.  There  are  two  of  them, 
neither  of  which  ever  was  put  into  writing  except  within  the 
last  generation,  so  that  the  spoken  tongues  of  those  pro- 
fessing to  speak  the  same  language  greatly  differ  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country.  Their  speech  is  rough,  like 
the  life  they  live,  and  resembles  in  no  small  degree  the 
barren  cliffs  amid  which  they  dwell. 

Some  years  ago  Sultan  Hamid  II  conceived  the  idea 
of  subduing  the  Koords  in  the  eastern  part  of  his  do- 
minions by  calling  the  chiefs  to  Constantinople  and  making 
them  each  commander  of  a  body  of  their  own  people,  giv- 
ing this  troop  his  own  name  as  a  special  honor.  The 
chiefs  were  to  provide  the  men  and  the  horses  and  the 
sultan  furnished  the  equipment.  The  proposition  was  most 
acceptable  to  the  Koordish  nobles,  for  it  provided  them 
with  modern  equipments  of  warfare  and  at  the  same  time 
stamped  their  acts,  even  of  depredation,  with  official  author- 
ity. Under  the  new  dispensation,  whoever  offered  resist- 
ance to  a  Koord  armed  with  a  government  rifle,  by  that 


75] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


very  act  put  himself  into  open  rebellion  against  the  gov- 
ernment. These  conditions  prevail  at  the  present  time 
in  the  Erzerum,  Bitlis,  Diarbekr  and  Van  vilayets  along 
the  Russian  frontier.  Much  of  the  trouble  of  the  last 
fifteen  years  in  these  regions  is  due  to  this  fact.  Were 
it  not  that  the  Koords  are  urged  by  the  government  to  take 
aggressive  measures  against  the  resident  Christian  popu- 
lation, conditions  there  would  be  better  than  they  are  at 
the  present  time. 

It  is  often  stated  that  all  Koords  are  Mohammedans. 
The  Turks  take  this  ground,  as  they  do  regarding  the 
Albanians  of  Macedonia.  The  fact  is  that  few  of  the 
Koords  are  good  Moslems.  They  do  not  hesitate  to  put 
out  of  the  way  a  Turkish  tax-collector  who  makes  himself 
obnoxious.  The  fact  that  he  is  a  brother  Moslem  inter- 
poses no  obstacle.  Many  of  them  observe  few  of  the  rites 
and  customs  of  Islam,  and  one  tribe,  at  least,  living  along 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Euphrates  openly  declares  that  it 
is  not  Mohammedan.  The  writer,  in  conversation  with  a 
leading  man  of  that  tribe,  said,  "  You  are  a  Mohammedan." 
With  great  indignation  he  spat  into  the  air,  and,  beating 
upon  his  breast,  he  said,  *'  I  am  a  Koord ;  Moslems  are 
dogs."  They  have  certain  rehgious  rites  which  greatly 
resemble  some  of  the  Christian  customs,  as,  for  instance, 
they  have  a  service  in  which  bread  dipped  in  wine  is  put 
into  the  mouths  of  the  kneeling  participants  by  their 
religious  leader.  These  people  often  tell  the  Armenian 
Christians  that  their  sympathy  is  with  them  rather  than 
with  the  Turks. 

Owing  to  the  claim  of  the  Turks  that  all  Koords  are 
Mohammedans,  missionaries  have  not  been  able  to  inaug- 
urate special  work  among  them.  Throughout  the  country 
called  Armenia  and  where  the  Armenians  are  the  most  nu- 


[76] 


MOSLEM    PEOPLES 


merous,  there  also  the  Koords  are  found  in  the  largest 
numbers.  Frequently  they  reside  in  the  same  city,  side 
by  side,  but  more  often  the  Armenians  dwell  in  the  plains, 
where  they  are  the  cultivators  of  the  soil,  while  the  Koords 
live  higher  up  the  mountains.  A  study  of  the  regeneration 
of  the  Turkish  empire  cannot  be  complete  without  giv- 
ing large  consideration  to  this  ancient,  wild  and  violent 
people. 

THE  TURKS 

In  Turkey  the  word  "  Turk  "  is  used  only  to  designate 
a  Mohammedan.  A  Greek  who  had  accepted  Islam  would 
at  once  be  called  a  "  Turk."  It  would  be  said  of  him  that 
"  he  had  Turkofied  himself."  In  its  ordinary  use,  therefore, 
in  Turkey  it  signifies  a  religious  belief  and  that  alone. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  other  names  for  nationality, 
such  as  Armenian,  Greek,  Jacobite,  Yezidi,  Koord,  etc. 
Instead  of  using  the  word  "  Mohammedan  "  at  this  point 
we  will  consider  this  part  of  our  subject  under  the  title 
"  The  Turks,"  thus  keeping  the  national  and  religious 
parallel  intact. 

The  Turks  of  Turkey  comprise  every  race  that  has 
ever  lived  within  its  territory  and  has  accepted  Islam. 
As  the  people  of  the  different  races  embrace  Islam,  they 
come  at  once  into  the  Mohammedan  body  and  are  in  a 
large  measure  unified  with  it  by  the  common  customs 
imposed  upon  them  through  the  government  and  by  their 
religion.  These  assimilated  races  marry  and  intermarry 
so  that  to-day,  outside  of  Arabia,  where  the  race  has  been 
kept  more  free  from  mixture,  it  is  difficult  to  find  among 
the  Turks  a  clear  racial  type. 

The  original  Turkish  people  were  invaders,  coming  into 
the  country  from  the  north  and  east  for  plunder  and  con- 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


quest.  As  soon  as  these  conquering  hordes  accepted  Islam, 
every  victory  over  a  foe  meant  new  women  for  the  harem 
and  added  men  who  chose  Islam  to  tribute  or  death.  When 
the  country  had  been  overrun  and  Turkish  rule  was  es- 
tablished, there  was  exhibited  the  spectacle  of  a  Moham- 
medan body  of  officials  from  every  race  of  the  East, 
scattered  over  all  parts  of  the  empire,  except  possibly 
some  sections  of  Koordistan  and  Arabia,  administering  a 
government  over  the  other  races  dwelling  among  them. 
The  Turks  alone  could  hold  office,  serve  in  the  army,  col- 
lect the  taxes,  and  control  affairs.  In  Arabia  the  rulers 
or  Turks  (not  so  called  there,  however)  comprised  the 
main  part  of  the  population  and  so  had  things  their  own 
way.  In  all  other  sections  of  the  country,  other  races, 
and  not  infrequently  races  of  strength  and  energy  who 
had  occupied  that  same  territory  for  generations  before 
Mohammedanism  arose,  looked  upon  the  Turk  as  an  in- 
truder and  were  not  slow  to  make  him  aware  of  the  fact. 
These  were,  for  the  most  part,  disorganized,  and,  by 
Turkish  law,  disarmed,  so  that  little  could  be  done  to 
change  local  conditions. 

The  Druses  of  Syria,  the  Koords  in  Eastern  Tur- 
key, and  the  Albanians  of  Macedonia  were  reckoned  as 
Mohammedans  by  their  rulers.  As  these  people  had  few 
religious  convictions  of  any  kind,  and  as  the  Moham- 
medan yoke  placed  upon  them  did  not  seem  heavy,  they 
fell  in  with  the  idea  in  so  far  as  it  seemed  to  conserve 
their  interests  to  do  so.  Even  at  the  present  time, 
it  is  not  clear  how  sincerely  these  races  are  Moham- 
medan. It  is  thought  by  many  who  have  been  among 
them  that  their  Mohammedanism  is  largely  in  name. 
During  recent  years,  undoubtedly  influences  have  been 
brought  upon  the  Koords  which  bound  them  more  closely 


[78] 


MOSLEM    PEOPLES 


to  the  sultan,  although  this  is  not  true  of  all  classes  of 
Koords. 

Years  of  Turkish  rule,  by  which  the  non-Moslem  sub- 
ject is  looked  down  upon  as  a  "  Raya  "  who  has  no  rights 
that  a  Mohammedan  is  bound  or  expected  to  respect,  has 
made  the  Turk  selfish  and  cruel,  while  it  has  hardened  the 
Ray  as,  and  made  them  hate  the  government.  It  has  come 
to  be  generally  understood  that  the  government  exists 
only  for  the  Turks,  to  serve  whom  the  Rayas  are  per- 
mitted to  live.  Through  several  centuries  of  Turkish  rule, 
when  the  Raya  subjects  of  the  Turks  were  in  grossest 
ignorance  and  widely  scattered  in  the  country,  they  came 
to  accept  in  stolid  silence  the  situation  as  divinely  or- 
dained. Something  of  the  fatalism  of  their  masters  seemed 
to  settle  down  upon  even  the  Christian  subjects  and,  with 
little  complaint,  almost  human  slavery  was  accepted. 

If  the  immediate  possessions  of  Turkey  include  a  popu- 
lation of  about  24,000,000,  probably  6,000,000  of  these 
are  nominal  Christians,  and  perhaps  1,000,000  are  neither 
Christians  nor  Mohammedans. 

It  should  be  said  that  among  the  Turks  are  found  men 
of  great  strength  of  intellect,  and  not  a  few  of  high  char- 
acter. Every  one  who  has  been  in  the  country  speaks  of 
men  of  this  class  whom  he  has  met.  All  would  probably 
agree  with  the  statement  that  the  Turk  as  a  whole  is  far 
better  than  his  government. 

It  should  also  be  stated  that  in  recent  years  the  Turks 
themselves  have  been  more  boldly  open  in  expressing  their 
intense  dissatisfaction  with  the  methods  of  government 
administration,  especially  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
country.  The  New  Turk  Party,  so  called,  has  no  one 
knows  how  many  followers,  but  undoubtedly  it  represents 
the  modern  spirit  of  unrest  and  progress. 


[  79 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


OTHER  RACES 

We  need  not  speak  at  length  of  the  Circassians,  who  in 
some  respects  are  the  most  interesting  race  in  Asiatic 
Turkey.  These  are  Mohammedans  who  came  into  Tur- 
key in  large  numbers  after  the  Russian  conquest  of  the 
Caucasus.  Their  business  is  primarily  robbery.  They  are 
a  race  which  must  be  reckoned  with  in  the  northern  half 
of  Asia  Minor.  We  must  pass  over  the  Turkmen,  or  Tur- 
komans, who  can  be  traced  back  at  least  eight  centuries. 
These  are  also  Mohammedans  and  nomads  in  their  habits. 
They  are  found  in  considerable  numbers,  scattered  mainly 
over  the  southern  half  of  Asia  Minor.  There  are  also  the 
Albanians  in  the  western  part  of  European  Turkey,  able 
to  substantiate  their  claim  of  being  one  of  the  purest 
and  oldest  races  in  Europe.  These  number  perhaps 
two  million  souls,  and  are  more  united  as  a  race  than  either 
the  Circassians  or  the  Turkomen.  All  three  of  these 
peoples  are  nominally  Mohammedans,  and  from  them  have 
come  some  of  the  ablest  and  best  of  the  Turkish  officials. 

The  Bulgarians  have  a  government  of  their  own,  prac- 
tically independent  of  Turkey.  Many  of  these,  however, 
dwell  in  Macedonia,  together  with  Turks,  Albanians,  and 
Greeks,  and  so  constitute  an  important  part  of  the  Mace- 
donian question.  These  are  Christian  and  were  originally 
a  part  of  the  Greek  Church,  with  headquarters  at  Con- 
stantinople. They  are  a  sturdy,  vigorous,  and  intelligent 
race. 

Space  forbids  the  mention  of  other  minor  races  like  the 
Yezidis,  neither  is  there  call  for  a  description  of  the 
Arabs  who  dwell  in   Arabia   and  northward. 

It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  all  these  divergent,  crude, 
and    often   hostile    races,   each   with   a   religion   differing 


MOSLEM    PEOPLES 


from  that  of  all  others,  together  constitute  the  people 
of  the  Turkish  empire.  The  dominating  class  is  the  Turk, 
representing  the  Mohammedan  faith,  but  far  from  har- 
monious even  among  themselves,  except  as  they  are  prac- 
tically united  in  a  common  hatred  of  the  Christians  and  in 
a  common  purpose  to  keep  them  from  gaining  supremacy 
in  wealth,  number,  intelligence,  or  influence. 

Outside  of  the  large  coast  cities  there  are  but  few  people 
in  Turkey  who  are  not  native  to  the  country.  Turkey  has 
offered  little  attraction  to  people  of  other  countries  for 
colonization.  Far  more  are  seeking  to  leave  that  country 
than  are  attempting  to  enter  it.  The  exactions  of  the 
government  upon  all  who  dwell  within  the  empire,  the 
insecurity  of  the  protection  afforded  to  life  and  property, 
and  the  risks  which  gather  about  trade  and  commerce 
are  not  calculated  to  attract  foreign  capital  or  induce 
natives  of  other  lands  to   immigrate  there. 


81] 


TURKEY  AND  THE  WEST 


Only  last  year  the  Arabic  paper,  Es-Zahir,  published  in  Egypt,  said: 
"  Has  the  time  not  come  yet  when  uniting  the  suppressed  waiUngs  of  India 
with  our  own  groans  and  sighs  in  Egypt,  we  should  say  to  each  other.  Come, 
let  us  be  one,  following  the  divine  words,  'Victory  belongs  to  the  united 
forces'?  Certainly  the  time  has  come  when  we,  India  and  Egypt,  should 
cut  and  tear  asunder  the  ties  of  the  yoke  imposed  on  us  by  the  English." 
On  the  other  hand,  Mohammed  Husain,  the  editor  of  a  paper  at  Lahore, 
wrote  a  treatise  on  Jihad  (1893),  stating:  "The  present  treatise  on  the 
question  of  Jihad  has  been  compiled  for  two  reasons.  My  first  object  is  that 
the  Mohammedans,  ignorant  of  the  texts  bearing  on  Jihad  and  the  conditions 
of  Islam,  may  become  acquainted  with  them,  and  that  they  may  not  labor 
imder  the  misapprehension  that  it  is  their  religious  duty  to  wage  war  against 
another  people  solely  because  that  people  is  opposed  to  Islam.  Thus  they, 
by  ascertaining  the  fixed  conditions  and  texts,  may  be  saved  forever  from 
rebellion,  and  may  not  sacrifice  their  lives  and  property  fruitlessly  nor  un- 
justly shed  the  blood  of  others.  My  second  object  is  that  non-Mohammedans 
and  the  govermnent  under  whose  protection  the  Mohammedans  live,  may 
not  suspect  Mohammedans  of  thinking  that  it  is  lawful  for  us  to  fight  against 
non-Mohammedans,  or  that  it  is  our  duty  to  interfere  with  the  life  and  prop- 
erty of  others,  or  that  we  are  bound  to  convert  others  forcibly  to  Moham- 
medanism, or  to  spread  Islam  by  means  of  the  sword." 

So  the  question  of  "religion  and  the  sword"  is  still  an  open  one  among 
Moslems.  It  must  needs  be  so  long  as  they  obey  the  Koran  and  tradition, 
for  Mohammed  said,  "He  who  dies  and  has  not  fought  for  the  religion  of 
Islam,  nor  has  even  said  in  his  heart,  '  Would  to  God  I  were  a  champion  that 
could  die  in  the  road  of  God,'  is  even  as  a  hypocrite."  And  again,  still  more 
forcibly,  "  The  fire  of  hell  shall  not  touch  the  legs  of  him  who  is  covered  with 
the  dust  of  battle  in  the  road  of  God."  In  spite  of  cruelty,  bloodshed, 
dissension  and  deceit,  the  story  of  the  Moslem  conquest  with  the  sword  of 
Jihad  is  fuU  of  heroism  and  inspiration.  —  S.  M.  Zwemer,  F.  R.  G.  S.  in 
"Islam." 


Vm.    TURKEY  AND  THE  WEST 

SELIM  III,  sultan  of  Turkey  from  1789-1807,  more 
formally  and  openly  displayed  the  spirit  and  pur- 
pose of  reform  than  had  any  of  his  predecessors. 
He  had  been  carefully  educated,  and  conceived  the  bold 
design  of  becoming  the  regenerator  of  the  empire.  He 
erected  a  printing-press  at  Scutari,  welcomed  intelligent 
foreigners,  employed  Christian  workmen,  and,  among 
many  other  things,  changed  the  system  of  taxation.  He 
also  called  in  European  generals  to  train  his  army,  and 
sought  advice  from  the  European  residents  of  his  capital. 
In  the  meantime,  the  invasion  of  Egypt  by  Napoleon  had 
stirred  up  the  passions  of  the  populace  of  Constantino- 
ple, and  the  sultan  with  his  unpopular  reform  measures 
tottered  upon  his  throne.  Russians  marched  into  the  Dan- 
ubian  provinces,  while  a  British  fleet  passed  the  Darda- 
nelles and  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bosporus.  The 
Janissaries  mutinied  in  1807  and  Sclim's  rule  ceased.  These 
internal  imbroglios  had  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
world  to  Constantinople  and  Egypt,  if  not  to  all  Turkey. 

After  the  brief  reign  of  Mustipha  IV,  Mahmud  II 
ascended  the  throne  in  1808.  He  possessed  extraordinary 
energy  and  force,  and  warmly  espoused  the  reform  meas- 
ures of  Selim.  Resisting  Russia's  demand  that  all  Greeks 
in  Turkey  should  be  placed  under  the  immediate  pro- 
tection of  Russia,  he  was  soon  at  war  with  that  country. 
Napoleon  prevented  the  occupancy  of  Constantinople  by 
the  Russians,  but  most  of  the  Danube  province  was  lost. 
A  Hellenic  revolution  was  later  fermented  which  broke  into 

■  fsJl     ' 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


open  conflict  early  in  the  beginning  of  mission  work  in 
Turkey. 

Turkey  as  a  government  and  as  a  factor  in  the  relations 
of  Russia  to  Europe  was  thus  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  West.  At  the  same  time  there  was  a  revival  of  in- 
terest in  the  Jews,  both  in  Europe  and  in  the  United 
States.  There  was  a  restudying  of  history  and  prophecy 
with  new  interpretations,  which  led  to  the  formation  of 
societies  to  circulate  among  them  the  New  Testament  and 
to  preach  to  them  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Naturally,  Pal- 
estine and  Syria  came  first  of  all  to  be  recognized  as  a  land 
that  had  peculiar  claims  upon  Christians.  There  was 
a  wide-spread  belief  that  the  Jews  were  about  to  return 
to  their  ancestral  home,  and  that  such  return  would  be 
limited  only  by  the  obstructions  put  in  their  way  by  the 
Ottoman  government.  Levi  Parsons,  the  first  American 
missionary  to  Palestine,  said,  in  1819,  just  before  sailing, 
"  Destroy  the  Ottoman  empire  and  nothing  but  a  miracle 
will  prevent  the  Jews'  immediate  return  from  the  four 
winds  of  heaven."  It  was  natural  that,  in  their  judgment, 
missionaries  ought  to  be  there  to  receive  them  when  the 
Ottoman  empire,  then  apparently  in  its  death  struggle, 
tottered  to  its  fall. 

Moreover,  the  Turkish  empire  embraced  the  lands  of 
the  Bible.  There  was  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  American 
Christians  not  a  little  of  the  spirit  of  the  crusaders  of 
the  middle  ages.  Why  should  the  soil  trodden  by  the 
feet  of  the  prophets  and  apostles,  yes,  even  by  the  Lord 
himself,  remain  a  stranger  to  the  voice  of  the  preacher 
of  righteousness  and  untouched  by  the  feet  of  the  modern 
apostle?  The  instructions  given  to  the  first  missionaries 
to  Turkey  dwelt  upon  this  impressive  and  moving  fact, 
as  did  the  early  letters  of  the  missionaries.     Unhke  the 


86  ] 


TURKEY    AND    THE    WEST 


crusaders,  these  aimed  at  a  purely  spiritual  conquest,  but 
it  included  the  Christian  subjection  of  all  races  and 
peoples. 

As  a  part  of  this  same  impulse  may  be  placed  the 
interest  in  the  historic  Greek  and  Syrian  Churches.  Stu- 
dents of  Church  history  were  profoundly  moved  as  they 
learned  of  the  decadence  of  vital  Christianity  in  these 
Churches,  and  they  were  thrilled  with  the  desire  to  inaug- 
urate among  them  a  revival  that  should  restore  them  to 
their  former  prominence  and  power.  The  purpose  to 
reach  Mohammedans  does  not  appear  prominent  in  the 
earlier  documents  of  tliis  period,  although  it  is  not  by  any 
means  entirely  wanting. 

In  view  of  these  facts  and  also  since  Turkey  was  the 
most  accessible  to  America  of  any  Asiatic  country,  it  is 
not  strange  that  in  1819,  with  unusual  enthusiasm,  two 
missionaries,  Levi  Parsons  and  Pliny  Fisk,  were  set  apart 
for  work  in  Turkey  by  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners, with  special  reference  to  the  Jews  in  Palestine. 

As  a  strategic  center  in  which  to  begin  to  prosecute 
missionary  work,  few  countries  are  more  attractive  than 
Turkey.  It  lies  along  the  southern  border  of  Russia 
throughout  its  entire  length,  except  as  separated  by  the 
Black  Sea.  Upon  the  east  it  borders  upon  Persia,  and 
constitutes  almost  the  only  approach  to  this  country  of  the 
shah,  as  well  as  to  the  Caucasus  possessions  of  the  czar. 
Arabia,  Egypt,  and  North  Africa  all  border  upon  the  same 
Mediterranean  Sea,  and  many  important  islands  like  Cy- 
prus and  Crete  lie  but  little  off  its  coast. 

Constantinople,  the  capital  of  the  Ottoman  empire, 
occupies  the  most  strategic  position  of  any  city  in  Europe 
and  dominates  both  the  European  and  Asiatic  sides  of 
the  Bosporus.     To  this  center  all  the  great  and  historic 


[87] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


cities  of  Turkey  look  for  political  direction,  and  to  it 
come  sooner  or  later  representatives  of  every  tribe  and 
race  in  the  empire.  All  traffic  from  the  Black  Sea  to 
the  outer  world  and  even  from  Persia  and  southern  and 
eastern  Russia  must  perforce  pass  through  Constanti- 
nople and  the  Dardanelles.  It  stands  upon  the  highway 
and  at  the  crossroads  of  commerce  and  travel.  As  a  base 
for  missionary  operations,  not  only  upon  Turkey  but  upon 
adjacent  countries  as  well,  it  is  unexcelled.  Smyrna  upon 
the  Grecian  Sea,  with  immense  populations  behind  it,  by 
the  strategic  force  of  its  location,  commanded  the  early 
attention  of  those  sent  out  to  explore  for  location.  Beirut 
in  Syria  attracted  for  the  same  reason  the  attention  of 
the  missionaries  to  Palestine. 

There  is  an  advantage  in  carrying  on  missionary  work 
among  sturdy  races.  When  such  are  converted,  they  be- 
come a  force  in  the  work  of  the  Church,  the  conduct  of 
Christian  institutions,  and  the  propagation  of  the  gos- 
pel. No  country  in  the  world  could  present  such  an  array 
of  ancient,  historic,  and  hardy  races  as  Turkey.  Race  sur- 
vival there  was  under  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 
None  but  the  invincible  remained.  Some  had  proven  them- 
selves invincible  by  arms,  others  had  conquered  by  superior 
intelligence,  strategy,  and  cunning.  Each  race  remained 
because,  in  some  particular,  it  had  an  advantage  over  its 
natural  and  persistent  antagonists.  The  very  fact  that 
these  races  had  kept  themselves  apart,  resisting  gradual 
absorption  while  repelling  open  attempts  at  conquest,  and 
all  for  twenty  centuries  or  more,  testifies  to  their  sturdy 
worth. 

Some  of  these,  like  the  Greeks,  Armenians,  Jews,  and 
Arabs,  had  been  masters  of  an  ancient  and  proud  civiliza- 
tion, in  which  learning  had  high  place  and  religion  was 


TURKEY    AND    THE    WEST 


supreme.  There  was  no  ground  for  questioning  native 
ability  to  grasp  the  principles  of  Christianity  when  once 
these  peoples  were  enlisted.  A  modern  Church  and  a  modern 
civihzation  built  upon  such  historic  races,  and  propagated 
by  such  men,  could  not  fail  to  become  an  irresistible  force 
in  that  needy  land.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  officers  of  the 
American  Board  of  Missions  early  concluded  that  the 
Ottoman  empire  was  a  strategic  point  in  which  to  plant 
modern  Christianity  and  the  institutions  which  it  fosters 
and  propagates. 

While  the  sultan  represents  one  sect  of  Mohammedanism, 
namely,  the  Sunni,  and  the  Persians  another,  the  Shiah, 
between  whom  there  has  existed  great  and  often  bloody 
hostility,  yet  the  Persian  Mohammedans  make  their  pil- 
grimages to  Mecca,  pray  towards  that  holy  of  holies,  and 
reverence  the  sacred  relics  in  the  keeping  of  the  sultan. 
However  much  the  shah  may  bluster,  he  listens  when  the 
sultan  speaks.  His  country  can  find  outlet  in  the  West 
only  across  Turkey,  and  much  that  comes  from  the  outside 
world  comes  through  some  part  of  the  Turkish  empire. 
As  the  Nestorians  and  Armenians  are  found  upon  both 
sides  of  the  line,  and  constitute  the  chief  non-Moslem 
populations  of  Persia,  it  was  most  natural  to  connect  the 
mission  work  of  Persia  directly  with  that  in  Turkey.  Such 
a  connection  holds  to  the  present  time.  In  many  respects 
Turkey  was  the  key  to  Persia  and  is  to-day. 

At  the  beginning  of  mission  operations,  Russia  was 
especially  open  to  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  the 
vernacular.  It  was  hoped  and  expected  that  soon  the 
entire  country  would  be  accessible  for  direct  Christian 
and  educational  operations  among  the  millions  of  that 
empire.  The  whole  Caucasus  region  can  be  easily  ap- 
proached by  no   other   route  than   the   Black   Sea.      The 

Tsol 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Armenians  dwell  in  large  numbers  in  that  section  of  the 
country  and  are  constantly  passing  back  and  forth  in  trade 
and  commerce.  Constantinople  lies  at  the  crossing  of 
all  roads  from  the  Black  Sea  regions  and  beyond  to  the 
outer  world  and  the  West. 

The  Balkan  peninsula  and  Macedonia,  lying  to  the  north 
and  west,  also  center  in  the  capital  of  the  Ottoman  em- 
pire. As  the  seat  of  government  for  Macedonia  and  the 
province  of  Adrianople,  all  political  influence  and  move- 
ment are  that  way.  For  generations  it  was  the  capital  of 
the  Balkan  provinces  and  even  yet  it  is  the  great  metropo- 
lis to  which  merchants,  students,  and  workmen  go  for  a 
longer  or  a  shorter  period  of  residence  abroad.  There  is 
no  other  center  so  well  calculated  to  be  the  base  of  opera- 
tions upon  all  that  region. 

The  American  Board  was  organized  in  1810  and  its 
first  missionaries  were  sent  out  in  1812.  These  went  to 
the  farther  East,  to  India  and  Ceylon.  It  was  not  the  in- 
tention of  the  Board  to  confine  its  foreign  operations  to 
these  two  countries.  Christian  leaders  in  America  were 
surveying  the  world  for  the  purpose  of  finding  other 
countries  in  which  to  establish  Christian  missions.  Ex- 
plorations into  the  western  parts  of  our  own  country 
resulted  in  beginning  work  among  the  Indians  as  early  as 
1816.  It  is  not  surprising  that  in  their  survey  of  the 
wide  world,  its  special  needs  and  promising  openings, 
attention  should  have  been  early  called  to  Turkey. 


[90] 


A  STRATEGIC  MISSIONARY  CENTER 


In  Constantinople  one  does  not  fail  to  meet  Greeks  and  Armenians  who 
are  bright  and  entertaining  and  obHging,  or  Mohammedans  who  are  noble 
and  com-teous,  and  thoughtful  enough  to  make  their  acquaintance  an  ac- 
quisition. But  every  study  of  the  people  in  mass  is  a  revelation  of  arrested 
development,  absence  of  initiative,  and  general  uselessness  by  reason  of 
narrow  selfishness.  The  city,  and  with  it  the  millions  to  whom  the  city  is 
model,  seems  hostile  to  what  is  best  in  the  world's  work.  High-sounding 
phrases  of  lofty  principle  are  heard  in  the  city.  Custom  provides  for  this 
much  of  concession  to  the  sensibilities  of  others.  But  the  centuries  seem  to 
have  frayed  off  the  last  semblance  of  meaning  from  the  words.  To  quote  a 
remark  of  a  sage  official  in  India  which  apphes  to  the  whole  of  Asia,  "  Whilst 
the  mouth  is  proclaiming  its  enlightenment  and  progress,  the  body  is  waddling 
backward  as  fast  as  the  nature  of  the  ground  will  permit."  The  bane  of 
Constantinople  is  not  solely  poverty  of  resources;  it  is  poverty  of  ideala. — 
Henby  Otis  Dwight,  LL.  D.  in  "  Constantinople  and  its  Problems." 


IX.   A  STRATEGIC  MISSIONARY  CENTER 

WHILE  the  political  and  commercial  importance 
of  Constantinople  is  supreme,  when  considered 
in  relation  to  the  Powers  of  Europe  and  the 
far  East,  this  is  insignificant  in  comparison  with  its  re- 
ligious importance  in  relation  to  the  Mohammedan  world. 
So  far  as  we  can  learn,  this  fact  did  not  receive  large 
consideration  at  the  time  missions  in  Turkey  were  begun. 
The  truth  is  that  it  did  not  then  hold  the  commanding 
relations  to  the  Mohammedans  of  other  countries  that  it 
holds  to-day.  The  present  reigning  sultan,  Hamid  II,  has 
done  more  than  any  of  his  predecessors  to  secure  for  him- 
self recognition  by  all  the  faithful  as  the  one  supreme 
head,  the  caliph  of  Islam.  He  has  sent  presents  with 
messages  of  sympathy  and  encouragement  to  Mohamme- 
dans in  India,  China,  and  Africa,  and  these  have  been 
received  as  from  the  great  living  head  of  the  Moslem 
faith.  When  our  government  found  itself  in  possession 
of  a  country  in  which  a  Mohammedan  ruler  was  enthroned, 
it  found  it  convenient  to  carry  on  negotiations  for  sub- 
mission through  the  sultan  of  Constantinople.  There  are 
probably  230,000,000  Mohammedans  in  Turkey,  Europe, 
Persia,  Africa,  India,  China  and  other  countries,  who 
look  upon  the  sultan  of  Turkey  as  the  representative  on 
earth  of  their  revered  prophet  Mohammed.  As  such,  he 
does  not  possess  or  assume  temporal  authority,  or  even 
well-defined  spiritual  prerogatives,  but  he  does  command 
an  influence  that  has  been  secretly  discussed  in  many 
European  cabinets,  and  which  has  been  taken  into  con- 

[93] 


DAYBEEAK    IN    TURKEY 


sideration  in  dealing  with  Moslem  races  and  in  admin- 
istering ultimata  to  the  head  of  the  Ottoman  empire. 
The  sultan  clearly  represents  a  temporal  and  a  religious 
power.  The  strength  of  the  temporal  influence  lies  in  his 
relations  rehgiously,  not  only  to  his  own  mediate  and 
immediate  subjects,  but  to  all  followers  of  the  prophet 
Mohammed,  whatever  language  they  speak  and  in  whatever 
land  they  dwell. 

The  official  title  of  the  sultan  is  padishah,  father  of  all 
the  sovereigns  of  the  earth.  This  is  the  name  exclusively 
used  by  the  Turks  in  official  communications.  He  is  also 
called  Imam-ul-Musselmin,  the  supreme  pontiff  of  all  Mus- 
sulmans or  Mohammedans ;  Zilullah,  the  shadow  of  God ; 
and  Hunkiar,  the  slayer  of  infidels.  By  these  and  other 
similar  titles  he  is  known  as  far  as  the  Mohammedan 
religion  has  gone.  No  one  else  claims  such  honors  and  to 
him  they  are  conceded.  Destroy  his  religious  power  and 
he  would  be  the  most  impotent  of  monarchs,  but  with  it 
he  has  defied  for  three  generations  the  efforts  of  the 
Powers  of  Europe  to  secure  some  degree  of  justice  and 
freedom  for  his  oppressed  subjects. 

The  sultan  holds  his  religious  power  through  two  im- 
portant facts.  The  first  is  that  the  two  sacred  cities  of 
Islam  in  Arabia  are  within  his  empire  and  under  his  con- 
trol —  Mecca,  the  birthplace  of  the  prophet,  and  Medina, 
which  contains  his  tomb.  This  sacred  territory  is  pro- 
hibited to  infidels,  but  is  the  goal  for  tens  of  thousands 
of  Moslem  pilgrims  each  year.  There  is  no  faithful  fol- 
lower of  Mohammed  who  does  not  dream  of  the  time  when 
he  will  be  so  blessed  as  to  kiss  the  black  stone  of  the  Kaaba, 
drink  of  the  well  of  Zemzem,  or  have  a  part  in  the  prolonged 
ritual  which  shall  entitle  him  during  the  rest  of  his  Hfe  to 
the  honored  name  of  Haji. 


[94] 


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E  v^i? 

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■  -i-  »-.  '^ 

.p:;;;m 

THE   BOSPORUS,    CO^'STANTl^;OPLE 


A  MOUNTAIN   VIM- AUK  IN   EASTERN  TURKEY 


A    STRATEGIC    MISSIONARY    CENTER 

The  Mohammedans  beheve  that  the  black  stone  came 
down  from  heaven  and  was  connected  with  all  the  patri- 
archs and  prophets,  beginning  with  Adam.  This  is 
the  great  destination  of  all  pilgrimages,  as  well  as  the 
earthly  center  of  the  Mohammedan  world.  To  this 
point  all  faithful  Moslems  turn  five  times  each  day  when 
they  pray,  and  the  lips  which  are  permitted  to  kiss 
it  are  thrice  blessed.  Around  this  have  grown  up  the 
Kaaba,  the  enclosing  mosque,  and  other  accessories 
too  many  even  to  name,  all  together  constituting  the 
holy  temple  of  Islam  where  no  infidel  foot  is  permitted 
to  tread,  and  upon  which  no  vulgar  Christian  eye  may 
look. 

Medina,  which  contains  a  mosque  supposed  to  cover  the 
burial-place  of  Mohammed,  is  some  seventy  miles  away. 
All  faithful  Moslems  should  visit  Mecca  once  during  their 
lives,  but  to  add  a  visit  to  Medina  increases  their  merit 
in  the  world  to  come.  Outside  of  these  sacred  precincts 
all  may  travel,  but  woe  be  to  the  bold  investigator  who 
seeks  to  penetrate  to  the  holy  of  holies  of  Islam.  For  the 
protection  of  these  sacred  cities  the  sultan  of  Turkey 
makes  provision.  He  guards  their  sanctity  against  in- 
fidel invasion,  and  provides,  as  occasion  may  demand,  a 
holy  carpet  for  the  holiest  place.  His  soldiers  safeguard 
the  pilgrims,  and  his  name  is  constantly  appealed  to  as 
the  slayer  of  infidels  and  shadow  of  God.  The  pilgrims 
from  Africa,  from  Mindanao,  from  China  and  India  and 
Ceylon,  all  return  from  these  shrines  of  their  faith  in- 
dehbly  impressed  with  the  mighty  power  of  him  who  rules 
at  Constantinople. 

The  other  fact  which  gives  the  sultan  power  over  all 
Mohammedans  is  his  custody  of  the  Hall  of  the  Holy  Gar- 
ment, which  is  next  to  the  Kaaba,  and  perhaps  upon  a 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


parity  with  it  for  sanctity.  This  hall  is  in  the  seraglio, 
upon  the  point  of  old  Byzantium,  which  projects  out  into 
the  Bosporus,  dividing  it  from  the  Sea  of  Marmora. 
In  it  lie  the  mantle  of  the  prophet  Mohammed,  his  staff, 
his  saber,  his  standard,  and  other  relics.  Among  these, 
enclosed  in  a  casket  of  gold,  are  two  hairs  from  his  beard. 
The  sultan  is  supposed  to  make  an  annual  visit  to  these 
sacred  relics,  of  which  he  alone  is  keeper  and  guardian. 
The  standard  of  Mohammed  is  the  standard  of  Islam, 
consisting  of  a  green  silk  flag  about  two  feet  square,  em- 
broidered with  the  inscription  "  There  is  no  God  but  Allah 
and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  It  is  said  to  have  been 
carried  by  Mohammed  himself  and  has  since  been  re- 
garded as  the  sacred  standard  of  the  entire  Moslem  world. 
If  publicly  borne  by  the  sultan  in  the  great  mosques  of 
Constantinople  it  would,  it  is  said,  be  the  signal  for  a  gen- 
eral religious  war.  It  is  thought  by  many  that  should  the 
sultan  choose  to  use  the  power  he  possesses  in  this  standard 
he  could  with  it  summon  to  his  assistance  all  true  Moslems 
and  hurl  them  in  fanatical  zeal  and  fury  against  any 
infidel  force.  It  is  known  everywhere  that  this  standard 
and  these  relics  are  in  the  possession  of  the  ruler  of  the 
Ottoman  empire,  and  thus  the  sultan  stands  almost  in  the 
pJace  of  the  prophet  himself. 

When  Moslems  pray  they  pray  towards  Arabia  under 
the  rule  of  the  sultan,  and  when  they  think  of  their  holy 
prophet  their  minds  turn  to  the  relics  at  Constantinople. 
In  the  face  of  these  facts,  it  requires  no  demonstration 
to  show  that  Constantinople  and  the  Turkish  empire  con- 
stitute the  pohtical  and  religious  center  of  Islam.  Other 
countries  may  be  important,  this  is  supreme.  Mecca  and 
Medina  cannot  yet  be  entered,  but  Constantinople  and  all 
the  rest  of  the  Turkish  empire  is,  by  treaty,  accessible 


96  ] 


A    STRATEGIC    MISSIONARY    CENTER 

for  residence  to  the  Christian  of  every  race  and  name. 
To  begin  mission  work  here  was  to  start  at  the  fountain- 
head. 

The  fact  that  Christian  preachers  and  teachers  are  per- 
mitted to  reside  at  Constantinople  and  freely  preach  their 
faith,  cannot  but  have  favorable  influence  over  intolerant 
Moslems  in  remote  parts.  They  all  have  faith  in  the  power 
of  the  sultan  as  well  as  in  his  supreme  wisdom.  If  he 
permits  this,  why  should  they  object?  In  several  instances 
in  India,  when  the  writer  was  conversing  with  Moham- 
medans, it  was  almost  amusing  to  see  the  keen  interest 
they  manifested  in  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  Turkey. 
They  were  ignorant  but  were  ready  to  listen,  and  un- 
doubtedly went  away  to  ponder  upon  what  they  had  heard. 
Evidently  one  thing  that  impressed  them  was  that  while  the 
sultan  of  Turkey  is  a  mighty  ruler  he  does  not  prohibit 
the  teaching  of  Christianity,  even  within  the  Throne  City. 
If  he  does  not  prohibit  it,  perhaps  it  is  not  so  bad  a  re- 
ligion after  all. 

It  is  also  of  no  little  value  to  print  and  send  out  from 
Constantinople  large  quantities  of  Turkish  literature,  and 
from  Beirut,  Arabic  literature,  the  two  languages  which 
are  most  widely  read  by  the  Mohammedans.  Every  volume 
thus  printed  bears  the  stamp  of  approval  by  the  govern- 
ment of  his  imperial  majesty  the  sultan,  assuring  all  who 
read  that  the  book  was  issued  with  his  sanction  and  author- 
ity. Under  these  circumstances  a  publishing  house  at 
Constantinople  is  calculated,  by  its  very  location,  to  reach 
millions  who  might  otherwise  refuse  to  read  what  is 
printed.  In  Arabia  an  Arabic  Bible,  at  first  rejected 
because  it  is  an  infidel  book,  is  later  accepted  because 
it  bears  upon  its  title  page  the  authoritative  permission 
of  his  imperial  majesty.     As  a  strategic  center  for  Chris- 

7  [97] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


tian  work,  calculated  directly  and  indirectly  to  reach  the 
two  hundred  and  thirty  million  who  bear  the  name  of  the 
prophet  of  Arabia,  there  is  no  place  that  can  compare  with 
Constantinople,  resting  upon  two  continents  and  swaying 
the  most  mighty  religious  empire  on  earth. 


[  98 


SOCIAL,  MORAL  AND   RELIGIOUS 
CONDITIONS 


The  second  cause  of  the  continuance  of  the  Ottoman  dominion  has  been 
less  accidental.  Like  the  early  caliphs,  and  indeed  all  able  Mussulman 
dynasties  except  the  Persian,  the  ruhng  house  of  Turkey  has  for  all  these 
centuries  maintained  unbroken  the  principle  that,  apart  from  creed,  abihty 
is  the  only  quahfication  for  the  highest  ser\'ice.  Outside  the  navy,  a  Turkish 
grandee  must  be  a  Mussulman;  but  that  granted,  there  is  no  obstacle  of 
birth,  or  cultivation,  or  position  standing  in  any  man's  path.  Even  slavery  is 
no  barrier.  Over  and  over  again,  a  sultan  apparently  at  the  end  of  his 
resources  has  stooped  among  the  crowd,  clutched  a  soldier,  a  shpper-bearer, 
a  tobacconist,  a  renegade,  given  him  his  own  hmitless  power,  and  asking  of 
him  nothing  but  success,  has  secured  it  in  fuU  measure.  Equahty  within  the 
faith,  which  is  a  dogma  of  Islam,  and  next  to  its  belief  in  a  "sultan  of  the 
sky,"  its  grand  attraction  to  inferior  races,  has  in  Turkey  been  a  reality  as  it 
has  been  in  no  other  empire  on  earth,  and  has  provided  its  sovereigns  — 
who,  be  it  remembered,  fear  no  rival  unless  he  be  a  kinsman,  an  Arab,  or  a 
"prophet"  —  with  an  endless  supply  of  the  kind  of  abihty  they  need.  The 
history  of  the  grand  viziers  of  Turkey,  were  it  ever  written,  would  be  the 
history  of  men  who  have  risen  by  sheer  force  of  ability  —  that  is,  by  success 
in  war  or  by  statesmanship,  or,  in  fewer  instances,  by  that  art  of  mastering  an 
Asiatic  sovereign  and  his  seragho  in  which  fools  do  not  succeed.  The  sultans 
have  rarely  promoted,  rarely  even  used,  men  of  their  own  house,  —  which 
is  the  Persian  dynastic  policy,  —  have  hated,  and  at  last  destroyed,  the  few 
nobles  of  their  empire;  and  capricious  and  cruel  as  they  have  been,  have 
often  shown  a  power  of  steadily  upholding  a  great  servant  such  as  we  all 
attribute  to  the  founder  of  the  new  German  empire.  This  equahty,  this 
chance  of  a  career  of  great  opportunities,  great  renown,  and  great  luxury, 
brings  to  Constantinople  a  crowd  of  intriguers,  some  of  them  matchless 
\'illams ;  but  it  also  brings  a  great  crowd  of  able  and  unscrupulous  men,  who 
understand  how  to  "govern"  in  the  Turkish  sense,  and  who  have  constantly 
succeeded  in  restoring  a  dominion  which  seemed  hopelessly  broken  up. 
Every  pasha  is  a  despot,  an  able  despot  is  soon  felt,  and  he  has  in  carrying 
out  the  method  of  Turkish  government,  which  is  simply  the  old  Tartar 
method  of  stamping  out  resistance,  an  advantage  over  Europeans  which  is 
the  third  cause  of  the  continuance  of  the  Ottoman  empire.  He  is  tormented 
with  no  hesitations  in  applying  force  as  a  cure  for  all  things.  The  man  who 
resists  is  to  die,  or  purchase  life  by  submission.  —  Meredith  Townsend 
in  "Asia  and  Europe." 


X.    SOCIAL,  MORAL  AND   RELIGIOUS 
CONDITIONS 

THE  moral  and  religious  condition  of  the  people  of 
Turkey,  especially  the  non-Moslems,  was,  and  still 
is,  without  a  parallel  in  any  country  in  the  world. 

Since  Mohammedanism  never  encourages  progress  and 
education,  and  since  the  principles  of  Moslem  rule  in  all 
countries  and  in  all  times  have  been  based  upon  force, 
ignorance  and  fanaticism,  it  is  not  difficult  to  judge  of 
the  condition  of  these  subject  peoples,  especially  after 
many  generations  of  oppression. 

The  most  of  the  races  that  refused  to  embrace  Islam 
and  elected  to  pay  a  regular  tribute  for  the  privilege  of 
continuing  to  live,  were  Christians,  such  as  the  Copts 
of  Egypt,  the  Syrian  Christians  of  Syria,  the  Jacobites  of 
Mesopotamia,  the  Armenians  of  Armenia  and  sections  of 
northern  Syria  and  Asia  Minor,  the  Greeks  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  the  Bulgarians  of  European  Turkey.  While  all  these 
were  Christians  by  profession,  they  had  no  ecclesiastical 
relations  with  each  other.  Each  race  and  Church  stood 
by  itself,  entirely  independent  of  all  the  rest,  fostering 
no  sympathy  the  one  with  the  other  except  in  a  common 
cause  against  a  dominant  race. 

Under  Moslem  rule  all  education  among  the  so-called 
Rayas  was  discouraged,  and  some  of  the  Moslem  customs, 
like  the  veiling  of  their  women,  were  adopted.  The  low 
estimate  placed  upon  womanhood  by  the  conquerors  was 
accepted  in  a  measure  by  these  races,  and  some  of  the 
worst  of  the  vices  of  the  Moslems  became  common  amon^ 
the  Christians. 

noTT 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


With  these  surroundings,  the  Christianity  of  the  ear- 
lier days  so  deteriorated  that  Httle  remained  except  the 
name  and  the  outward  observances  of  the  Church.  Be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  modem  Kterature  and  general  edu- 
cation, the  spoken  language  of  the  common  people  changed 
to  such  a  degree  that  the  Bible  and  the  rituals  of  the 
Church  in  the  ancient  language  in  which  they  were  writ- 
ten became  an  unknown  tongue  to  the  masses.  Their 
rehgion  became  a  religion  of  form,  and  the  Bible  a  closed 
and  sealed  book.  Surrounded  as  they  were  by  all  the 
vices  of  a  Moslem  society,  dominated  by  Moslem  rulers, 
the  character  of  the  Christianity  among  them  did  not  at- 
tract their  Mohammedan  neighbors,  while  there  was  no 
hope  for  reform  from  within. 

Jealousies  and  discords  sprang  up  between  the  Christians 
of  various  sects  whenever  they  came  into  contact,  like  that 
between  the  Greeks  and  Bulgarians  in  Macedonia,  and  the 
Greeks  and  Armenians  in  Asia  Minor,  and  the  Syrians  and 
Armenians  in  northern  Syria.  The  reigning  sultans  have 
not  been  slow  to  note  these  jealousies  and  to  take  advantage 
of  them  in  dealing  with  the  various  sects.  Had  the  Chris- 
tians of  Turkey  during  the  last  century  been  united,  they 
might  have  accomplished  much  by  way  of  securing  privi- 
leges for  themselves.  But  even  the  people  of  a  single 
national  Church  have  not  been  able  to  agree  upon  many 
important  questions,  so  that  the  sultan  and  his  subor- 
dinates have  not  found  it  hard  to  control  these  superior 
races,  superior  in  themselves  in  many  respects  to  their 
masters.  If  any  one  seemed  to  be  giving  more  trouble 
than  usual,  methods  were  found  to  divide  still  more,  and 
so  weaken  and  subdue  them.  The  same  methods  have  been 
constantly  employed  with  the  various  religious  bodies  of 
his  empire  that  have  been  successfully  used  with  the  Euro- 


102] 


SOCIAL,    MORAL   AND   RELIGIOUS    CONDITIONS 

pean  nations  who  have  caused  him  trouble  by  interfering 
with  his  pecuhar  views  of  government  or  unjust  methods 
of  administration.  He  has  usually  succeeded  in  playing  off 
the  jealousies  and  cupidity  of  one  against  another  so  that 
concerted  action  became  impossible  and  he  has  been  left  to 
work  his  own  will  in  his  own  way.  While  the  sultan  has 
learned  cunning  by  these  conditions  and  gained  no  little 
advantage  to  himself,  neither  the  subject  Christian  races 
of  his  empire  nor  the  European  nations  outside  have  seemed 
to  learn  a  lesson  which  is  of  service  to  them  in  changing 
existing  conditions. 

Under  these  circumstances,  religion  to  most  of  the  people 
of  the  country  became  but  a  form  and  a  mark  of  nation- 
ality. No  conversion,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word, 
was  required  for  admission  to  the  Greek,  Armenian,  Bul- 
garian, or  any  of  the  Oriental  Churches.  All  children  were 
baptized  in  infancy  and  so  grew  up  within  the  Church, 
with  no  religious  instruction  except  as  to  fast  and  feast 
days  and  the  proper  forms  to  be  employed  in  the  ritual  ob- 
served in  the  Churches.  In  all  services  the  language  used 
was  no  more  understood  by  the  people  as  a  whole  than 
Latin  would  be  comprehended  by  an  ordinary  country  audi- 
ence in  England  or  America.  There  was  no  educational 
or  moral  test  for  the  priests  except  that  they  should  be  able 
to  pronounce  the  words  of  the  regular  Church  services 
and  find  the  proper  places  from  which  to  read.  The  writer 
once  asked  an  Armenian  priest  where  he  studied.  He  said 
he  was  a*  baker  and  when  he  decided  to  become  a  priest  he 
went  to  a  monastery  and  studied  for  forty  days.  That 
comprised  all  of  his  schooling,  except  that  he  knew  how  to 
read  simple  narrative  when  he  began.  I  asked  him  if  he  un- 
derstood the  ritual  and  the  Scriptures  that  he  read.  He 
replied,  "  How  should  I  know.''     This  is  the  ancient  Arme- 

[103] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


nian."  Even  as  late  as  fifteen  years  ago  it  would  have  been 
difficult  to  find  a  Christian  priest  of  any  kind  or  class  in 
the  interior  districts  who  clearly  understood  the  ritual  of 
the  Church  or  the  Scripture  read  in  the  service.  Ordi- 
narily the  selection  of  priests  was  not  based  upon  special 
ability,  education,  or  moral  worth.  There  were,  of  course, 
noble  exceptions  to  this  most  general  rule. 

The  priests  being  such,  and  some  of  them  most  grossly 
ignorant  and  unfit,  and  there  being  in  the  Churches  no 
religious  instruction,  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  the  moral 
tone  of  these  Oriental  Churches  sank  rapidly  under  the 
rule  of  the  Turk,  with  no  power  in  themselves  to  rise  above 
these  conditions  and  institute  a  reform.  A  Church  without 
a  Bible,  with  an  ignorant  priesthood,  with  a  ritual  beautiful 
in  itself  but  dead  to  the  people,  with  no  religious  instruc- 
tion and  no  test  for  church-membership,  could  not  be  ex- 
pected in  any  land  or  in  any  age  to  keep  itself  unspotted 
from  the  world.  Under  these  conditions  Christianity  came 
to  be  largely  a  name  and  the  practises  of  religion  only  a 
form. 

The  resisting  power  of  the  Oriental  Churches  in  Turkey 
was  largely  vitiated  by  the  lack  of  the  true  spirit  of  Christi- 
anity within.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  surrounded  by  evil 
influences  and  by  open  persecutions  heavy  to  bear  even  by 
a  living,  vitalized  Church.  The  pressure  of  the  Moham- 
medans, both  individually  and  as  a  government,  was  di- 
rected to  force  all  professing  Christians  to  abandon  their 
ancestral  faith  and  become  Moslems.  The  heavy  hand  of 
the  government  was  constantly  upon  them,  while  faithful 
Moslems  were  not  slow  to  let  the  persecuted  ones  know 
that,  should  they  become  Mohammedans,  their  burdens 
would  become  Mghter.  Under  these  conditions  there  has 
constantly  been  more  or  less  apostatizing  from  Christian- 


[  104  ] 


SOCIAL,    MORAL  AND   RELIGIOUS   CONDITIONS 

ity.  In  times  of  unusual  persecution  the  number  of  these 
has  increased. 

At  the  same  time,  in  order  to  avoid  attention  and  thereby 
avert  conflict,  the  Christians,  in  many  cases,  conformed  to 
the  outward  practises  of  their  Moslem  masters.  Their 
women  veiled  themselves  when  in  public  and  covered  their 
mouths  at  all  times.  Efforts  to  provide  a  general  educa- 
tion for  their  children  were  largely  abandoned  and  wide- 
spread illiteracy  prevailed.  The  vices  of  the  Mohammedans, 
some  of  them  the  vilest  known  to  men,  were  practised  by 
many  of  the  Christians,  and  falsehood  was  so  common  that 
truth  came  to  be  almost  a  curiosity.  To  cheat  or  deceive 
a  Turk  was  considered  in  itself  almost  a  Christian  virtue. 
In  the  conflict  with  Islam,  Christianity,  in  its  ignorance, 
was  driven  to  the  wall  and  lost  nearly  everything  except 
its  ancient  Bible  and  most  excellent  ritual,  with  houses  of 
worship,  a  hierarchy  and  a  form  to  which  it  adhered  with 
most  commendable  tenacity. 

These  untoward  conditions  were  aggravated  by  the  fact 
that,  in  Turkey,  the  Church  came  to  be  a  political  organi- 
zation, presided  over  by  an  appointee  of  the  sultan,  who 
was  capable  of  being  dismissed  by  him  if  he  chose  to  exer- 
cise his  power.  Each  Church  with  its  political  patriarch 
at  Constantinople  constituted  a  little  state  within  a  state. 
Every  Church  represented  a  separate  race  or  nation  whose 
rights  within  the  empire  were  vested  in  the  rights  of  the 
Church,  directed  by  the  patriarch.  At  the  patriarchate 
were  recorded  —  and  it  is  true  to-day  —  all  births,  mar- 
riages and  deaths.  Individual  existence  in  the  empire 
was  recognized  only  through  the  Church.  The  Christian's 
sole  representative  at  Constantinople  to  speak  for  him  in 
case  of  injustice,  or  to  secure  a  privilege,  or  to  obtain  his 
legal  rights,  was  the  patriarch  of  his  own  peculiar  Church. 

[105  1  ~~ 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


The  political  organization  extended  down  through  the 
different  provinces  and  included  in  its  last  analysis  each 
individual  church.  Under  the  injustice  endured  by  the 
Christians  of  Turkey  during  the  past  five  hundred  years, 
it  is  most  natural  that  not  a  few  of  the  members  of  the 
Church,  if  not  a  great  majority,  should  look  upon  the  or- 
ganization, not  primarily  as  a  spiritual  temple,  but  as  a 
means  of  securing  redress  for  wrongs  suffered,  or  for  ob- 
taining privileges  from  the  Porte.  Under  the  laws  of 
Turkey  the  Church  must  exercise  political  functions.  Un- 
der the  practise  of  the  people,  it  came  to  be  primarily 
political,  the  spiritual  being  relegated  to  the  background. 

General  education  never  existed  in  that  country,  but 
under  the  sway  of  the  Moslem  all  education  was  dis- 
couraged. The  schools  of  the  Moslems  consisted  of  classes 
in  reading  the  Koran  in  Arabic,  accompanied  by  tradi- 
tional stories  of  Mohammed  and  comments  upon  his  teach- 
ings. Among  the  Christians  there  was  little  except  the 
instruction  of  a  few  youths  in  monasterial  schools  where 
men  were  trained  for  Church  orders.  It  is  true  that  now 
and  then  among  the  Greeks  and  Armenians  some  bright 
and  inquiring  mind  far  exceeded  the  ordinary  bounds  of  in- 
digenous scholarship  and  became  conspicuous  for  learning. 
But  these  were  rare  exceptions.  The  masses  of  the  people 
of  all  classes  and  religions  were  in  gross  ignorance.  Even 
within  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  writer  has  been  in  many 
Armenian  villages  in  which  not  a  person  except  the  priest 
knew  how  to  read  and  write,  and  even  his  accomplishments 
ceased  with  the  bare  ability  to  read  the  ritual  of  the 
Church.  A  leading  priest  once  asked  a  student  who  had 
studied  one  year  in  a  mission  school,  "  What  remains  for 
you  to  learn  after  studying  an  entire  year?  "  Under  such 
a  leadership  in  the  Church,  and  with  open  opposition  to 


[106] 


SOCIAL,   MORAL   AND   RELIGIOUS   CONDITIONS 

general  education  among  the  Turks,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  ignorance  among  the  masses  became  almost  universal, 
with  little  or  no  impulse  to  change. 

If  the  above  is  true  with  reference  to  the  education  of 
the  men,  what  could  be  expected  for  the  girls  and  women? 
It  is  natural  that,  among  the  Mohammedans,  who  accord 
to  women  a  low  place  in  society  and  religion,  it  should  have 
come  to  be  believed  in  wide  areas  in  the  interior  of  Turkey 
that  women  were  incapable  of  learning  to  read.  Among 
them  the  vital  question  calling  for  early  discussion  was 
not,  "Shall  education  be  afforded  to  girls?"  but  it  was, 
"  Can  girls  learn  to  read  ?  "  This  question  has  been  hotly 
discussed  within  the  last  fifty  years  in  the  interior  of 
Turkey,  with  the  missionary  contending  that  they  can, 
while  leading  men  of  the  country  have  contended  with 
vehemence  that  the  idea  was  too  preposterous  to  consider. 
Conviction  came  only  by  actual  demonstration. 

Under  such  circumstances  it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine 
the  general  conditions  of  society  and  the  deplorable  life 
of  the  Church.  These  conditions  were  more  or  less  modified 
in  the  large  coast  cities  like  Constantinople  and  Smyrna, 
but  even  in  these  places,  while  more  educated  men  were 
found  than  in  the  interior,  there  was  dense  ignorance  among 
the  masses,  and  no  provision  for  the  education  of  girls. 
The  entire  empire  had  few  newspapers  or  periodicals  of  any 
kind  in  any  language,  and  the  state  of  education  stimulated 
the  production  of  no  great  literature,  even  had  there  been 
those  capable  of  producing  it.  The  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  apart  from  the  revival  of  learning  among 
the  Greeks  of  the  West,  may  be  called  the  dark  age  for 
literature,  learning,  and  religion  in  the  Turkish  empire. 

Constantinople  and  Syria  were  the  two  centers  for  Chris- 
tian work  in  Turkey  among  the  Oriental  churches,  because 

[107] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


these  were  the  centers  of  control  for  all  of  these  churches. 
The  chief  patriarch  resided  at  the  Porte  and  was  in  close 
touch  with  his  majesty  the  sultan,  while  the  secondary 
patriarch  resided  at  Jerusalem,  cooperating  with  his  su- 
perior at  the  capital.  These  churches  could  best  be  reached 
and  influenced  for  evangelical  Christianity  from  the  same 
points. 

Missionaries  were  sent  to  the  ancient  churches,  not  to 
attack  them  either  in  their  doctrines  or  in  their  practises, 
but  to  cooperate  with  their  leaders  in  organizing  a  system 
of  education  and  in  creating  a  sentiment  that  should  de- 
mand for  the  Church  an  educated  and  morally  upright 
clergy.  It  was  expected  that  the  Church  would  accept  the 
modern  version  of  its  own  Scriptures  and  encourage  its 
circulation  among  the  people.  For  the  best  conduct  of  a 
work  of  this  character,  the  missionaries  needed  to  be  in 
close  contact  with  the  centers  of  ecclesiastical  power  in  all 
of  these  churches,  that  from  them  the  ordinary  lines  of 
communication  might  be  utilized  in  reaching  the  remote 
interior  districts. 

In  order  that  misunderstandings  may  be  cleared  up,  it 
should  be  stated  here  that  missionaries  to  the  Armenians 
and  Greeks  were  not  sent  to  divide  the  churches  or  to  sepa- 
rate out  those  who  should  accept  education  and  read  the 
Bible  in  the  vernacular.  Their  one  supreme  endeavor  was 
to  help  the  Armenians  and  Greeks  work  out  a  quiet  but 
genuine  reform  in  their  respective  churches.  The  mission- 
aries made  no  attacks  upon  the  churches,  their  customs,  or 
behefs,  but  strove  by  positive,  quiet  effort  to  show  the 
leaders  how  much  they  lacked  and  to  help  them  bring  about 
the  necessary  changes. 

For  twenty-six  years  this  quiet  work  went  on  with  no 
separation,  in  accordance  with  the  desire  of  the  mission- 


[  108] 


SOCIAL,    MORAL  AND   RELIGIOUS   CONDITIONS 

aries,  as  well  as  in  harmony  with  the  purposes  of  the  Board. 
When  the  separation  did  come,  it  was  in  spite  of  every 
effort  of  the  missionaries  to  prevent  it.  For  the  successful 
accomplishment  of  such  a  purpose  only  the  centers  of  ec- 
clesiastical power  and  influence  were  available.  Only  their 
own  leaders  could  be  expected  to  inaugurate  and  carry 
into  execution  a  reform  movement  which  would  permeate 
the  Church  throughout  the  empire. 


[  109] 


CHRISTIANITY  AND   ISLAM 


The  mind  of  the  true  Eastern  is  at  once  lethargic  and  suspicious ;  he  does 
not  want  to  be  reformed,  and  he  is  convinced  that,  if  the  European  wishes  to 
reform  him,  the  desire  springs  from  sentiments  which  bode  him  no  good. 
Moreover,  his  conservatism  is  due  to  an  instinct  of  self-preservation,  and  to  a 
dim  perception  that,  if  he  allows  himself  to  be  even  slightly  reformed,  all  the 
things  to  which  he  attaches  importance  will  be  not  merely  changed  in  this  or 
that  particular,  but  will  rather  be  swept  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  Perhaps  he 
is  not  far  wrong.  Although  there  are  many  highly  educated  gentlemen  v/ho 
profess  the  Moslem  religion,  it  has  yet  to  be  proved  that  Islam  can  assimilate 
civihzation  without  succumbing  in  the  process.  It  is,  indeed,  not  improbable 
that,  in  its  passage  through  the  European  crucible,  many  of  the  distinctive 
features  of  Islam,  the  good  ahke  with  the  bad,  will  be  volatiUzed,  and  that  it 
will  eventually  issue  forth  in  a  form  scarcely  capable  of  recognition.  "The 
Egj'ptians,"  Moses  said,  "whom  ye  have  seen  to-day,  ye  shall  see  them  again 
no  more  for  ever."  The  prophecy  may  be  approaching  fulfilment  in  a  sense 
different  from  that  in  which  it  was  addressed  to  the  Israelites. 

Look,  moreover,  not  only  to  the  spirit  of  the  lawgivers,  but  to  the  general 
principles  on  which  the  laws  are  based.  The  tendency  in  all  ci\iHzed  Euro- 
pean States  is  to  separate  rehgious  from  civil  laws.  In  Moslem  States,  on  the 
other  hand,  religious  and  civil  laws  are  inextricably  interwoven. 

Look  to  the  consequences  which  result  from  the  degradation  of  women 
in  Mohammedan  countries.  In  respect  to  two  points,  both  of  which  are  of 
vital  importance,  there  is  a  radical  difference  between  the  position  of  Moslem 
women  and  that  of  their  European  sisters.  In  the  first  place,  the  face  of  the 
Moslem  woman  is  veiled  when  she  appears  in  pubUc.  She  hves  a  life  of 
seclusion.  The  face  of  the  European  woman  is  exposed  to  view  in  public. 
The  only  restraints  placed  on  her  movements  are  those  dictated  by  her  own 
sense  of  propriety.  In  the  second  place,  the  East  is  polygamous,  the  West  is 
monogamous. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  seclusion  of  women  exercises  a  baneful 
effect  on  Eastern  society.  The  arguments  on  this  subject  are,  indeed,  so 
commonplace  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  on  them.  It  will  be  sufficient  to 
say  that  seclusion,  by  confining  the  sphere  of  woman's  interest  to  a  very 
limited  horizon,  cramps  the  intellect  and  withers  the  mental  development  of 
one  half  of  the  population  in  Moslem  countries.  An  Englishwoman  asked  an 
Egyptian  lady  how  she  passed  her  time.  "I  sit  on  this  sofa,"  she  answered, 
"and  when  I  am  tired,  I  cross  over  and  sit  on  that."  Moreover,  inasmuch 
as  women,  in  their  capacities  as  wives  and  mothers,  exercise  a  great  influence 
over  the  characters  of  their  husbands  and  sons,  it  is  obvious  that  the  seclusion 
of  women  must  produce  a  deteriorating  effect  on  the  m.ale  population,  in 
whose  presiuned  interests  the  custom  was  originally  established,  and  is  still 
maintained.  —  Lord  Cromer  in  "Modern  Egypt." 


XI.    CHRISTIANITY  AND  ISLAM 

FROM  the  day  of  its  inception  until  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century,  Mohammedanism  never  came  into 
close,  continuous  contact  with  a  pure  Christianity. 
Its  very  beginning  was  a  protest  against  a  Christianity 
that,  in  its  worship,  had  all  the  appearance,  at  least,  of 
idolatry.  The  Mohammedan  leaders  then,  as  well  as  in 
subsequent  generations,  saw  nothing  in  Christians  which 
made  them  believe  that  Christianity  could  be  better  than 
their  own  religion.  The  Christianity  with  which  Islam  was 
in  conflict  was  not  such  a  manifestation  in  the  lives  and 
practises  of  its  followers  as  to  compel  the  intellectual  ap- 
proval of  Moslems  or  even  to  command  their  attention. 
All  the  churches  of  Syria,  Armenia,  and  Asia  Minor  had 
become  worldly  and  formal,  from  which  had  departed  the 
gentle  spirit  of  their  Lord,  who  exalted  meekness,  truth, 
purity,  and  righteousness.  As  the  Mohammedans  passed 
on  towards  the  north  and  west  in  their  victorious  progress, 
not  once  did  they  encounter  the  strength  of  Christianity 
displayed  in  quiet  meekness  and  forgiving  love.  In  Europe 
they  met  the  Church  in  arms  and  saw  in  it  nothing  to  com- 
pel their  respect. 

Wherever  Mohammedanism  has  penetrated,  it  has  not 
come  into  vital  touch  with  Hving  Christianity.  All  that  the 
Mohammedan  knew  of  the  practical  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ,  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  he  had 
obtained  from  observing  the  Christians  whom  he  conquered 
and  controlled.  It  is  no  wonder  that  he  concluded  that  his 
own  religion  was  superior,  when  he  saw  the  intemperance 
of  even  the  leaders  in  the  Church,  and  when  he  took  note 

8  [113] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


of  what  seemed  to  him  to  be  the  worship  of  pictures  and 
idols.  He  could  not  see  that  the  Christian  was  more  truth- 
ful, or  honest,  or  pure,  than  himself;  hence  he  naturally 
concluded  that  the  Christian  religion  was  no  better  at  least 
than  his  own  faith. 

A  traveler  in  the  interior  of  the  empire,  and  putting  up 
at  a  caravansary  kept  by  a  Mohammedan,  asked  him  if 
it  would  be  safe  to  leave  his  luggage  in  the  outer  court. 
The  Mohammedan  replied  with  great  earnestness,  "  Cer- 
tainly it  will  be  safe,  for  there  is  not  a  Christian  living 
within  a  three  hours'  journey  of  here."  This  incident  re- 
veals the  opinion  of  at  least  one  Moslem  regarding  the 
power  of  Christianity  to  make  men  honest. 

The  Mohammedans  have  never  had  an  adequate  opportu- 
nity of  knowing  Jesus  Christ  as  Redeemer  and  Lord  and  of 
becoming  his  true  disciples.  They  have  never  seen  the  true 
Christ  in  the  face  and  Hfe  of  his  followers.  They  have  had 
only  a  distorted  vision  of  him,  dwarfed  and  disfigured  and 
marred,  and  in  that  vision  they  have  seen  no  form  of  comeH- 
ness  and  no  beauty  that  they  should  desire  him.  It  is  only 
in  comparatively  recent  years  that  an  effort  has  been  made 
to  bring  to  the  attention  of  Islam  the  fruits  of  the  true 
Christian  life.  It  is  not  possible  nor  is  it  expected  that  the 
experiences  and  prejudices  of  twelve  hundred  years  will  be 
overcome  in  a  single  generation  or  even  in  a  century.  Such 
deep-seated  convictions  can  be  changed  only  by  prolonged 
fasting,  prayer,  and  sacrifice.  Modern  missions  in  Turkey 
are  an  attempt  to  show  to  all  in  that  country  what  true 
Christianity  means  in  the  individual,  in  the  family,  and  in 
society.  It  is  not  an  attempt  to  convince  the  Mohammedan 
by  argument  that  Mohammed  is  the  false  prophet  and  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  God.  Such  an  attempt  would  result  only 
in  failure.     The  Mohammedan  must  be  made  to  see  in  the 


[114] 


CHRISTIANITY    AND    ISLAM 


lives  of  the  true  followers  of  Jesus  that  which  will  give  him 
a  clear  vision  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  lead  him  to  cry  out, 
"  My  Lord  and  my  God."  I  repeat,  Mohammedanism  has 
never  yet  had  an  opportunity  to  accept  Christ  and  that  we 
may  not  expect  it  to  become  Christian  until  the  Christian 
world  has  demonstrated  to  it  the  beauty,  love,  purity,  and 
power  of  the  true  Christian  life. 

These  facts  regarding  Turkey  and  the  various  peoples 
who  comprise  its  population  were  not  fully  known  to  the 
early  missionaries  nor  to  the  officers  of  the  Mission  Boards. 
The  country  was  largely  unexplored  and  the  vast  in- 
terior was  almost  a  terra  incognita.  Mohammedanism  was 
vaguely  understood.  There  was  a  clear  knowledge  of  the 
conditions  and  needs  of  the  Greek  Church,  but  the  Arme- 
nians and  the  other  races  in  the  remoter  interior  were  but 
partially  understood  and  only  by  a  few.  The  most  of  our 
knowledge  of  Arabia,  Syria,  Eastern  Turkey,  and  the  in- 
terior of  Asia  Minor,  the  customs,  beliefs,  and  lives  of  the 
people  who  dwell  there,  is  the  heritage  which  has  come  to  us 
from  the  investigations  and  reports  of  missionaries  who 
have  traversed  in  every  direction  all  parts  of  the  country, 
except  sections  of  Arabia.  Many  of  these,  by  living  among 
the  people  for  a  generation  and  mastering  their  language, 
have  been  able  to  speak  with  the  highest  authority  upon 
what  they  have  seen  and  known.  We  are  approaching  this 
question,  not  with  the  doubtful  knowledge  or  even  gross 
ignorance  of  eighty  years  ago,  but  with  all  the  light  that 
has  come  to  us  from  fourscore  years  of  mission  operations 
which  now  cover  practically  the  entire  country. 

Never  in  the  history  of  modern  missions  has  a  more  diffi- 
cult and  complicated  work  been  undertaken.  The  questions 
which  entered  into  the  mission  problems  of  the  Turkish 
empire  were  legion,  assuming  new  phases  at  every  turn 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


and  every  phase  presenting  a  new  difficulty.  The  one  dom- 
inant note  that  runs  through  it  all  is  the  fact  of  Moham- 
medan rule.  This  fact  in  all  its  length  and  breadth  must 
be  taken  into  consideration.  Add  to  this  the  antiquity  of 
the  old  churches,  the  form  of  Christianity,  from  which  the 
spirit  has  fled,  the  race  hatreds,  the  poverty  of  the  country, 
the  uncertainty  of  everything  that  pertains  to  the  govern- 
ment, except  that  it  never  fails  to  be  superlatively  bad,  the 
conviction  of  the  Moslems  that  they  have  seen  true  Chris- 
tianity and  know  it  to  be  as  bad  as  their  own  government, 
and  we  have  a  few  of  the  difficulties  which  confronted  the 
early  missionaries.  On  the  other  hand,  there  were  the 
encouraging  features  of  the  reverence  of  the  Oriental 
churches,  all  of  them,  for  the  Holy  Scriptures,  their  allegi- 
ance to  the  Church,  and  their  respect  for  ecclesiastics,  to 
which  must  be  added  their  superior  intelligence,  eagerness 
to  learn,  and  capability  for  great  advancement.  Surely 
Turkey  presented  a  varied  scene  marked  by  high  lights  and 
dark  shadows.  Without  hesitation,  men  and  women  of 
unusual  intellectual  and  spiritual  capacity  and  breadth,  and 
of  indomitable  courage,  entered  this  country  to  win  it  for 
Christ  and  for  Christian  civihzation. 


[116] 


EARLY  PIONEERING  AND 
EXPLORATIONS 


The  elevating  influence  of  the  missionaries  in  Turkey  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. It  is  the  most  hopeful  of  all  the  influences  which  are  at  work  in 
the  empire  to-day.  Most  people  at  home  think  of  the  missionary  as  a  propa- 
gandist whose  chief  endeavor  is  to  win  converts  to  his  creed,  but  on  the  field 
he  appears  as  a  very  diti'erent  character;  he  is  an  educator,  a  physician,  a 
scientist,  a  peacemaker,  a  neighbor,  and  an  example  of  civiUzed  living. 
Judged  by  the  numbers  added  to  Protestant  churches  from  the  population 
of  the  Turkish  empire,  missions  there  might  be  counted  a  failure,  or,  at  the 
most,  but  a  partial  success;  but  the  rnaking  of  Protestants  is  the  smallest 
part  of  a  missionary's  work.  1.  The  missionary  elevates  the  whole  standard 
of  Christian  Kving  and  thinking.  There  are  in  Turkey  churches  hoary  with 
age  —  Greek,  Armenian,  Syrian  —  in  which  ignorance,  barbarism,  supersti- 
tion, and  low  moraUty  hold  sway.  To  retain  their  members  in  the  face  of  the 
missionary,  these  churches  find  intelligence,  purity,  spirituaUty,  and  civihza- 
tion  necessary,  and  have  been  greatly  elevated  by  missionary  enterprise. 
2.  In  countries  like  Turkey,  where  medical  skill  is  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
mass  of  the  people,  the  preventable  suffering  and  death  are  appalling.  How 
eagerly  the  villagers  bring  their  sick  to  any  stranger  in  the  hope  that  he  may 
be  a  physician,  almost  every  traveler  can  testify.  The  brightest  spots  in  the 
country  are  the  missionary  medical  centers,  where  untold  sufi'erings  are 
allayed.  These  range  all  the  way  from  the  \allage  dispensary  to  the  Medical 
College  at  Beirut,  where  one  of  the  world's  best  surgeons  not  only  helps  the 
suffering,  but  teaches  others  to  do  it  too.  3.  The  most  important  phase  of 
missionary  work  in  Turkey  is,  however,  the  educational.  From  humble 
schools  scattered  widely  through  the  villages  to  colleges  like  Robert  College 
and  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beirut  (which  are  the  fruit  of  missionary 
enterprise)  most  successful  efforts  are  being  made,  by  broad-minded,  un- 
denominational methods,  to  train  the  young  to  think,  and  to  induct  them 
into  modern  science  and  civihzation.  The  effect  of  this  is  already  widely 
apparent,  and  it  is  clear  that  if  the  day  ever  comes  when  Turkey  is  able  to 
take  her  place  among  the  nations  as  a  state  which  appreciates  the  laws  of 
humanity  sufficiently  to  be  trusted,  as  Japan  is  now  trusted,  to  control  the 
lives  and  property  of  foreigners  resident  within  her  limits,  it  will  be  because 
of  the  civiUzing  influence  of  these  educational  institutions,  combined  with 
the  lessons  in  integrity  taught  by  the  missionaries'  simple  Christian  lives. 
Apart  from  their  work  for  Turkey,  the  missionaries  have  contributed  much 
to  science.  Archaeology  owes  them  large  debts  in  every  part  of  the  empire, 
and,  to  mention  no  other  fields,  the  only  authoritative  work  on  the  botany  of 
Syria  is  by  a  missionary.  The  missionaries  are  in  my  opinion  working  more 
directly  than  any  other  class  of  men  to  complete  the  social  evolution  of 
mankind,  and  to  make  possible  the  peaceable  federation  of  the  world. — 
George  A.  Barton,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Semitic  Languages  in  Bryn  Mawr 
College,  Director  of  the  American  School  of  Oriental  Study  and  Research  in 
Palestine,  1902-1903. 


XII.    EARLY  PIONEERING  AND 
EXPLORATIONS 

IT  was  no  light  task  to  plant  missions  in  a  country  so 
little  known  and  extensive  as  was  the  Turkish  empire 
at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  Of  the  races 
which  made  up  its  large  population  little  was  understood 
except  a  general  knowledge  of  the  Jews  and  Greeks,  and 
there  was  much  less  information  regarding  the  Turks.  In 
accordance  with  the  policy  already  adopted  by  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  the  early  missionaries  were  sent  out  to  investi- 
gate and  explore  before  deciding  upon  the  location  of  mis- 
sions and  stations  and  before  fixing  the  exact  nature  and 
methods  of  work. 

The  instructions  given  the  earlier  missionaries  to  Turkey 
seldom  failed  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  fully  exam- 
ining the  different  parts  of  the  country  and  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  character,  beliefs,  and  characteristics 
of  the  different  races  and  peoples  which  comprise  its  popu- 
lation. In  some  cases  particular  unexplored  regions  were 
named  as  demanding  immediate  attention.  All  the  early 
missionaries  were  directed  to  report  to  headquarters,  in  full 
detail,  the  results  of  their  researches  and  observations. 

In  the  instructions  given  in  1819  to  Pliny  Fisk  and  Levi 
Parsons,  the  first  missionaries  appointed  to  Turkey,  the 
following  passage  occurs : 

"You  will  survey  with  earnest  attention  the  various  tribes  and 
classes  which  dwell  in  that  land  and  in  the  surrounding  countries. 
The  two  grand  inquiries  ever  present  in  your  minds  will  be,  'What 
good  can  be  done  ?'  and  'By  what  means  ?'    What  can  be  done  for 


DAYBEEAK    IN    TURKEY 


the  Jews  ?  What  for  the  pagans  ?  What  for  the  Mohammedans  ? 
What  for  the  Christians  ?  What  for  the  people  in  Palestine  ?  What 
for  those  in  Egypt,  in  Syria,  in  Armenia,  in  other  countries  to  which 
your  inquiry  may  be  extended  ?  " 

This  single  quotation  demonstrates  the  spirit  of  them  all, 
and  reveals  the  deliberate  and  far-seeing  policy  of  the 
Board  in  inaugurating  its  missions  in  Turkey  as  well  as 
in  other  countries.  Men  of  the  highest  ability  and  broad- 
est vision  were  selected  for  missionary  appointment  and 
upon  them  was  placed  the  responsibility  of  selecting  the 
location  of  the  missions  and  stations,  and  deciding  the 
policy  and  methods  of  work. 

The  archives  of  the  Board  are  rich  with  the  early  reports 
of  those  first  missionaries,  who  explored  with  fearlessness 
and  zeal,  and  observed  with  discriminating  care  and  pre- 
cision. They  were  conscious  of  the  fact  that  much  in  the 
future  depended  upon  the  thoroughness  of  their  work  and 
the  accuracy  and  fulness  of  their  reports. 

Messrs.  Fisk  and  Parsons  landed  at  Smyrna  early  in 
1820  and  at  once  began  the  study  of  modern  Greek.  They 
explored  the  sites  of  the  seven  churches  of  the  Apocalypse 
and  noted  their  conditions  and  needs.  Careful  and  minute 
journals  were  kept  of  all  their  labors  and  observations. 
In  order  to  facilitate  the  work  of  exploration,  Mr.  Parsons 
went  on  alone  to  Palestine,  where  he  arrived  in  February, 
1821.  One  of  his  chief  objects  there  was  to  get  into  touch 
with  the  Christian  pilgrims  who  flock  to  the  holy  city  In 
great  numbers.  The  Greek  revolution  drove  him  back  to 
Smyrna  after  several  tours  in  Palestine,  and  from  there  he 
went  to  Alexandria,  Egypt,  where  he  died  Feb.  10,  1822. 
Mr.  Fisk  was  joined  by  Jonas  King,  who  left  his  studies  in 
Oriental  literature  at  Paris  for  that  purpose,  and  early  in 

[  120  ] 


EARLY    PIONEERING    AND    EXPLORATIONS 

January,  1823,  the  two  set  out  for  Jerusalem  by  way  of 
Alexandria  and  Cairo.  They  ascended  the  Nile  as  far  as 
Thebes,  distributing  everywhere  Bibles  and  tracts  in  Arabic. 
With  a  caravan  made  up  of  Turks,  Arabs,  Greeks,  and 
Armenians,  they  made  the  overland  journey  to  Jerusalem 
and  from  there  went  down  to  Beirut  upon  the  coast.  Here 
they  separated,  Mr.  King  taking  up  his  residence  in  the 
Lebanon  mountains  among  the  Druses,  where  he  was  most 
hospitably  received,  in  order  that  he  might  the  better  study 
the  Arabic  language  and  the  people.  By  this  time,  these 
men  were  using  with  much  freedom  Arabic,  modern  Greek, 
and  Italian. 

The  tours  of  these  first  missionaries  covered  Tripoli,  the 
Lebanon,  Baalbec,  Jaffa,  Hebron,  Damascus,  Antioch,  and 
Latakia,  thus  bringing  them  into  close  personal  touch  with 
the  desert  tribes  as  well  as  with  the  Druses,  Maronites, 
Turks,  Greeks,  and  other  races.  Mr.  King  returned  to 
Smyrna  overland  from  Tarsus,  and  Mr.  Fisk  died  at  Beirut 
Oct.  23,  1825,  two  years  after  the  arrival  there  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  William  Goodell. 

These  pioneer  operations  were  accompanied  with  great 
hardship  and  even  peril.  The  difficulties  were  increased 
at  this  early  period  by  the  efforts  of  the  Roman  Catholics 
to  drive  all  Protestants  from  Syria.  In  1824*  the  mission- 
aries in  Jerusalem  were  apprehended,  at  the  instigation  of 
the  Catholics,  and  brought  before  a  Moslem  judge,  charged 
with  distributing  books  which  they  declared  to  be  neither 
Jewish,  Moslem,  nor  Christian.  Attacks  by  robbers  were 
of  no  infrequent  occurrence  and  fanatical  uprisings  were 
constantly  to  be  expected.  The  Greco-Turkish  war 
brought  many  personal  perils  and  hardships,  but  did  not 
result  in  the  loss  of  missionary  lives. 

These  experiences  and  subsequent  investigations  led  to 

_- 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


the  choice  of  Beirut  as  the  missionary  center  for  Syria 
and  Palestine,  contrary  to  the  previous  expectation  that 
Jerusalem  would  be  chosen.  Jerusalem  was  carefully  tested 
and  its  climate  was  found  to  be  unfit  for  the  permanent 
residence  of  American  missionaries.  Beirut  was  upon  the 
sea,  and  at  the  same  time  in  such  relation  to  the  Lebanon 
mountains  that,  during  the  heated  time  of  the  year,  the 
missionaries  could  withdraw  into  the  mountains  without  be- 
coming entirely  separated  from  the  people  and  their  work. 

The  matter  of  healthfulness  was  most  wisely  taken  into 
consideration  in  selecting  the  location  for  permanent  mis- 
sion stations.  Not  that  this  was  the  solely  decisive  feature, 
but  it  was  given  due  place  in  the  weighing  of  arguments 
pro  and  con.  Subsequent  experience  has  proven  that  it  is 
the  poorest  and  most  wasteful  policy  to  permit  missionaries 
to  reside  permanently  in  cities  that  are  found  to  be  un- 
healthy, or  to  plant  in  such  places  central  institutions. 
Beirut  has  been  occupied  to  the  present  day  as  the  great 
mission  center  for  Syria,  and  the  wisdom  of  its  choice 
eighty  years  ago  has  been  abundantly  justified.  In  select- 
ing other  stations  in  different  parts  of  Turkey  the  same 
wise,  careful  method  was  followed. 

During  the  ten  years  from  1820  to  1830  the  explora- 
tions made  in  that  country  by  missionaries  of  the  Board 
were  extensive,  embracing,  as  has  been  stated,  the  site  of  the 
seven  churches,  the  shores  of  the  Nile  as  far  as  Thebes,  the 
whole  of  Palestine,  and  the  greater  part  of  Syria.  Cap- 
padocia  had  been  entered  from  Smyrna ;  while  the  Pelopon- 
nesus, the  more  important  of  the  Ionian  and  vEgean 
Islands,  as  well  as  Tripoli  and  Tunis  upon  the  north  coast 
of  Africa,  had  also  received  missionary  visits.  These  care- 
ful and  scientific  investigations  had  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Western  world  the  religious  behefs  and  practises 

[  122  1 


EARLY    PIONEERING   AND    EXPLORATIONS 

and  the  moral  condition  of  the  Copts,  the  Maronite  and 
Greek  Churches,  as  well  as  the  condition  and  needs  of  other 
races  dwelling  in  that  wide  extent  of  territory. 

Vast  regions  in  that  empire  were  still  unexplored  and 
peoples  like  the  Armenians,  Nestorians,  Chaldeans,  as  well 
as  Turks,  Turkomans,  Koords,  and  Persians,  dwelt  in  the 
far  east  of  Turkey  and  in  Persia  and  about  them  little 
was  known.  The  conditions  and  needs,  and  how  best  to 
meet  these  needs,  could  not  be  determined  until  all  parts  of 
the  empire,  all  its  peoples  and  their  interrelations,  were 
fairly  well  understood. 

Owing  to  the  Greco-Turkish  war,  which  involved  some  of 
the  European  nations,  it  became  necessary  in  1828  to  with- 
draw from  Beirut,  the  center  of  the  Syrian  and  Palestine 
work,  to  Malta,  and  for  two  years  Beirut  was  unoccupied. 
Towards  the  close  of  1828,  Rev.  Rufus  Anderson,  then 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  American  Board,  was  sent  to 
Malta  to  meet  and  confer  with  the  brethren  and  later  to 
make  personal  investigations  in  Greece  and  the  Levant. 
This  conference  led  to  the  location  of  Mr.  Bird  in  Beirut, 
and  in  sending  Dr.  Goodell  to  Constantinople. 

At  the  same  time  the  Prudential  Committee  decided  to 
send  Rev.  Eli  Smith  and  Rev.  H.  G.  O.  Dwight  upon  an 
extended  tour  of  Investigation  across  Asia  Minor,  Ar- 
menia, and  Koordistan  into  Georgia  and  Persia.  Mr.  Smith 
had  learned  Arabic  in  Syria  and  was  also  somewhat  familiar 
with  the  Turkish  language,  besides  being  an  experienced 
traveler  and  a  close  and  accurate  observer.  Mr.  Dwight 
was  just  entering  upon  his  missionary  career  and  was  full 
of  energy  and  pluck. 

These  two  men  proceeded  from  Malta  to  Smyrna  in 
March,  1830,  and  from  there  to  Constantinople,  overland, 
in  April.    Before  beginning  the  journey,  they  placed  them- 

[  123  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


selves  under  the  protection  of  a  chief  of  the  Tartars,  who 
witnessed  the  seal  of  the  Tartar  guide  to  a  document 
acknowledging  responsibihty  for  the  safe  dehvery  at  Con- 
stantinople of  the  persons  and  property  of  the  missionaries. 
Beds,  bedding,  clothing,  cooking  utensils,  dishes,  writing 
material,  books,  food,  etc.  were  carried  in  waterproof 
leather  bags  upon  the  backs  of  horses.  They  clothed  them- 
selves in  the  flowing  native  dress  of  the  country  so  as  to 
attract  as  little  annoying  attention  by  the  way  as  possible. 
They  were  also  suppHed  with  passports  from  the  govern- 
ment and  official  letters  of  introduction. 

While  travelers  had  repeatedly  penetrated  the  regions 
to  which  they  were  to  go,  none  had  made  careful,  scientific 
investigation  of  the  people  and  of  the  religious  and  moral 
conditions.  There  was  not  even  a  map  in  existence  upon 
which  dependence  could  be  placed. 

After  obtaining  at  Smyrna  and  Constantinople  all  the 
information  possible  regarding  the  Armenians  and  the 
country  through  which  they  were  to  pass,  these  two  mis- 
sionary explorers  set  out  from  the  latter  place  on  the 
twenty-first  of  May,  1830,  under  their  Tartar  guide,  for 
the  remote  interior  of  the  country.  The  carefully  kept 
journal  of  this  memorable  tour  is  a  classic  of  its  kind. 
Later  accounts  and  fuller  knowledge  of  the  region  trav- 
ersed by  them  and  of  the  people  they  met  give  occasion 
for  Kttle  change  in  the  story  they  told  to  bring  it  up  to 
date. 

At  Tocat  they  visited  the  grave  of  Henry  Martyn  who 
gave  up  his  life  there  eighteen  years  before.  On  the  thir- 
teenth of  June  they  entered  the  city  of  Erzerum  and  found 
it  in  the  possession  of  the  Russians  and  the  headquarters  of 
their  army.  The  most  of  the  Armenian  population  had  fled. 
After  remaining  there  for  a  few  days,  they  pushed  on  east- 


[  124  ] 


EARLY    PIONEERING   AND    EXPLORATIONS 

ward,  creating  astonishment  wherever  they  went.  Their 
knowledge  of  Turkish  made  it  possible  for  them  to  converse 
freely  with  the  people,  while  all  were  puzzled  to  explain  the 
fact  that  their  own  language  was  known  by  foreigners 
from  beyond  the  sea.  None  of  the  inhabitants  could  under- 
stand the  purpose  of  their  inquiries,  for  to  all  classes  a 
mission  solely  for  the  sake  of  the  people  was  incomprehen- 
sible. From  here  they  faced  still  eastward,  visiting  Kars, 
where  they  met  large  numbers  of  Armenians.  They  con- 
tinued on  through  Tiflis,  Shoosha,  Nakhchevan,  Echmiad- 
zin, and  Khoy,  a  distance  from  Constantinople  of  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  miles.  When  they  arrived  at  Shoosha  in 
the  middle  of  August  they  were  nearly  worn  out  with  the 
extreme  fatigue  of  a  journey,  in  itself  most  trying,  while 
accommodations  at  night  were  often  unfit  even  for  a  horse. 
They  were  also  in  the  midst  of  cholera  which  had  recently 
carried  off  over  seventy  thousand  people. 

They  passed  two  and  a  half  months  in  Shoosha  with 
some  German  missionaries,  which  gave  an  opportunity  to 
recuperate  and  study  more  closely  the  people,  country,  and 
languages.  On  the  way  to  Tabriz,  Persia,  Mr.  Smith  was 
taken  seriously  ill  when  seventy  miles  from  the  city.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  prompt  and  kindly  response  of  the 
gentlemen  of  the  English  embassy  at  Tabriz  it  is  doubtful 
whether  he  would  have  survived  to  reach  the  city. 

Hitherto  they  had  been  studying  the  Armenian  espe- 
cially. At  Tabriz  they  were  in  contact  with  the  Nesto- 
rians,  to  investigate  and  report  upon  whom  a  special  com- 
mission had  been  given  them.  They  were  here  nearly  two 
months,  and  then  passed  on  to  Salmas,  Persia,  where  they 
came  in  contact  with  the  Chaldeans,  a  class  of  Nestorians 
who  became  Roman  Catholics  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before.      From    Salmas    they   continued   to   Urumia,    still 

[125] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


in  Persia,  and  were  warmly  received  by  the  Nestorian 
leaders. 

They  returned  by  way  of  Erzerum  and  Trebizond,  tak- 
ing ship  from  there  to  Constantinople  and  Malta,  arriving 
at  the  latter  place  July  2,  1831,  after  an  absence  of  fifteen 
and  a  half  months.  In  that  time  they  had  traveled  over 
one  thousand  miles  by  water  and  twenty-five  hundred  miles 
by  horse  through  a  wild  country  beset  with  robbers  and 
perils  of  every  kind.  Except  when  entertained  by  mission- 
aries or  representatives  of  foreign  governments,  a  rare 
occurrence  upon  all  this  journey,  they  were  compelled  to 
occupy  Oriental  stables  or  even  worse  places  as  caravan- 
saries and  endure  multifarious  privations  and  hardships. 
They  returned  well,  bringing  a  rich  store  of  accurate 
knowledge  regarding  the  country,  people,  and  rehgions, 
which  later  proved  to  be  of  inestimable  value  in  planting 
missions  in  all  those  regions.  Their  "  Researches,"  con- 
sisting almost  entirely  of  the  journals  they  kept,  cover 
every  phase  of  the  life  and  customs  of  the  people  and  the 
conditions  of  the  country.  These  were  printed  in  two 
volumes,  aggregating  nearly  seven  hundred  pages,  and  for 
their  scientific  value  to  the  student  of  races,  religions, 
geography,  and  language  were  at  once  recognized  to  be  a 
classic.  By  this  tour  and  the  publication  of  their  "  Re- 
searches in  Armenia,"  all  that  region  was  opened  to  the 
world  as  a  proper  field  of  operation  for  the  Christian 
missionary. 

As  a  direct  result  of  the  work  of  Messrs.  Smith  and 
Dwight,  Mr.  Perkins  was  sent  to  Tabriz  in  September, 
1833,  but  owing  to  the  unusual  difficulties  of  the  way, 
among  which  were  various  warring  tribes  of  Koords,  he 
did  not  arrive  until  nearly  a  year  after  leaving  Boston. 
In   November,    1835,   he  with  Dr.   Grant   removed   from 


[  126 


EARLY    PIONEERING    AND    EXPLORATIONS 

Tabriz  to  Urumia,  and  both  these  places  have  been  the 
seat  of  mission  work  since.  In  1835  Trebizond  was  occu- 
pied as  a  mission  station,  and  four  years  later  mission- 
aries were  located  in  Erzerum.  Trebizond  is  upon  the 
Black  Sea  and  was  the  port  of  entry  for  all  that  part  of 
the  country.  It  is  at  the  terminus  of  the  great  caravan 
route  from  Persia  to  the  West,  and  ever  since  Xenophon 
took  ship  there  for  Constantinople,  with  his  retreating 
ten  thousand,  has  held  an  important  place  among  the 
ports  upon  the  coast.  Erzerum  is  a  week's  journey  in- 
land upon  the  caravan  route  to  Persia  and  is  one  of  the 
most  important  cities  in  Eastern  Turkey.  It  is  situated 
upon  a  high  plateau  nearly  six  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea  and  in  the  midst  of  a  large  population  of  Armenians, 
Turks,  and  Koords. 

Dr.  Asahel  Grant  was  appointed  a  missionary  in  1835 
with  the  expectation  that  he  would  go  to  Persia.  He 
proceeded  to  Urumia  by  way  of  Trebizond,  Erzerum,  and 
Tabriz.  It  was  expected  that  Dr.  Grant,  the  first  mis- 
sionary physician  to  enter  that  country,  would  investi- 
gate the  conditions  and  needs  of  the  mountain  Nestorians 
who  occupy  the  high  lands  of  Eastern  Turkey  and  west- 
ern Persia.  His  allotted  task  demanded  extensive  jour- 
neys amid  the  wildest,  least  known,  and  most  dangerous 
portions  of  the  Ottoman  empire.  In  addition  to  repeated 
tours  up  and  down  the  country,  his  most  important  ex- 
plorations were  made  in  Koordistan  and  among  the  head 
waters  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  rivers.  From  1839  to 
1845  Dr.  Grant  visited  Van,  Diarbekr,  Harpoot,  Mar- 
din,  Mosul,  and  many  other  towns  of  importance,  living 
among  the  people,  studying  their  life,  winning  them  by 
the  depth  and  sincerity  of  his  love  for  them,  and  planning 
to  reach  them  by  permanently  organized  missionary  op- 

[127] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


erations.  Upon  a  part  of  these  journeys  he  was  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  Holmes,  while  much  of  the  time,  except  for 
native  servants,  he  was  alone. 

They  reached  Diarbekr  in  July,  1839,  and  found  it  in 
a  state  of  anarchy.  Robbery  and  murder  were  the  order 
of  the  day,  with  a  general  hatred  of  all  Europeans.  They 
withdrew  to  Mardin,  fifty  miles  south  in  Mesopotamia, 
accompanied  by  an  escort  of  thirty  horsemen  sent  for  their 
protection  by  the  Turkish  pasha.  In  Mardin  their  lives 
were  openly  threatened.  Almost  by  a  miracle  were  they 
spared,  for  a  mob  suddenly  formed  and  killed  the  gov- 
ernor in  his  palace  and  attacked  the  lodgings  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, who  were  providentially  outside  the  city  at  the 
time.  The  city  gate,  closed  to  keep  them  inside  for 
slaughter,  barred  them  out  and  so  saved  their  hves. 

From  here  Dr.  Grant  went  on  alone  to  Mosul,  upon  the 
Tigris,  two  hundred  miles  below  Mardin,  while  Mr.  Holmes 
returned  to  Constantinople.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that 
the  house  in  which  he  found  lodging  in  this  important 
city  of  the  far  interior  was  but  a  few  feet  from  the  place 
that  was  yet  to  be  his  grave. 

From  Mosul  he  started  alone  in  the  fall  of  the  same 
year  for  an  extended  tour  through  the  unexplored  moun- 
tains of  Koordistan.  He  soon  came  into  contact  with 
the  Yezidis,  who  are  worshipers  of  Satan  and  more  friendly 
to  the  Christians  than  to  the  Moslems.  He  took  pains 
to  call  upon  the  chiefs  of  the  country  and  make  friends 
with  them  for  the  sake  of  the  missionary  work  yet  to  be 
developed.  He  found  many  of  the  Koordish  chiefs  inclined 
to  be  friendly. 

By  means  of  his  medical  skill  he  was  able  to  command 
the  respect  if  not  the  love  of  all.  He  attended  profes- 
sionally the  emir  of  a  large  area  of  country  in  Koordistan, 


[128] 


EARLY    PIONEERING    AND    EXPLORATIONS 

who  gave  orders  a  few  years  previously  for  the  murder  of 
the  scientist  Schultz,  This  tour  covered  eight  months.  He 
was  so  much  changed  by  his  native  dress  and  rough  ap- 
pearance that  he  was  not  recognized  by  his  associates  at 
Urumia  upon  his  arrival  there. 

Repeated  journeys  were  made  back  and  forth  through 
that  country  with  Urumia  and  Mosul  as  points  to  which 
he  occasionally  returned.  The  work  of  exploration  was 
made  much  more  hazardous  and  difficult  by  the  hostil- 
ity to  each  other  of  the  Nestorians,  Koords,  and  Turks, 
a  hostility  often  manifesting  itself  in  open  war.  At  one 
time  Dr.  Grant  was  charged  with  being  an  ally  of  the 
emir  and  again  with  being  a  Turkish  spy.  His  great  tact, 
absolute  fearlessness,  and  most  winning  Christian  char- 
acter overcame  all  obstacles,  and  under  the  protecting 
hand  of  God  preserved  him  from  violence. 

The  careful  journals  of  Dr.  Grant,  even  though  they 
had  to  be  kept  in  absolute  secrecy  to  prevent  the  arousing 
of  suspicions,  contain  some  of  the  very  best  information 
extant  to-day  regarding  the  character  and  conditions  of 
these  savage  but  sturdy  people  of  Eastern  Turkey.  In 
nearly  all  that  wild  country  to  have  been  caught  writing 
would  probably  have  resulted  in  his  immediate  death.  Such 
an  act  would  have  stamped  him  as  a  spy  or  necromancer, 
both  of  which  were  regarded  as  worthy  of  death.  While 
Dr.  Grant  was  still  ahve,  and  largely  by  him,  the  atten- 
tion of  the  American  Board  was  emphatically  called  to 
the  great  needs  of  that  country,  and  to  the  possibilities 
of  inaugurating  among  the  mountain  Nestorians  a  direct 
evangelistic  work.  Many  of  them  were  Roman  Catholics, 
nominally,  but  a  large  number  were  not.  No  special  plans 
were  then  made  for  direct  work  among  the  Koords,  as  at- 
tention up  to  that  time  had  been  directed  more  to  the  nomi- 

9  [  129] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


nal  Christian  races.  Dr.  Grant,  however,  pleaded  that  a 
mission  might  be  estabhshed  "  to  Assyria  and  Meso- 
potamia "  rather  than  to  any  particular  sect  or  race. 

Dr.  Grant  died  in  Mosul,  April  24,  1844,  after  a  life 
brief  in  years  but  long  in  the  extent  of  country  covered 
by  its  influence,  and  thereby  opened  to  his  successors  for 
missionary  operations.  Mr.  Layard,  the  well-known  As- 
syriologist,  who  later  traversed  Koordistan,  said  he  had 
heard  Mussulmans  speak  of  Dr.  Grant  in  the  highest 
terms  of  praise,  while  the  Koords  repeatedly  referred  to 
him  as  "  the  good  doctor."  Few  missionaries  have  done 
more  in  so  brief  a  time  to  open  to  the  world  a  country 
filled  with  savage,  hostile,  and  warring  races,  and  thus  to 
lay  the  foundation  for  permanent  missionary  occupation. 
At  least  six  places  visited  by  him  subsequently  became 
missionary  stations,  all  of  which  are  now  maintained. 

EXPLORATIONS  ALONG  THE  UPPER  EUPHRATES 
AND   TIGRIS   RIVERS 

In  1850  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Dunmore  were  appointed  mis- 
sionaries to  the  city  of  Diarbekr,  which  had  been  previ- 
ously visited  by  Dr.  Grant  and  others.  This  city,  known 
in  classic  history  as  Amida,  is  an  ancient  walled  town 
upon  the  Tigris  river  located  at  the  northern  extremity 
of  Mesopotamia.  It  was  nearly  a  year  before  they  reached 
their  destination,  having  stopped  for  a  time  in  Aintab 
and  Urfa  to  study  the  Turkish  language.  The  city  wa,s 
hot  with  persecution  when  they  arrived,  so  that  repeatedly 
the  life  of  Mr.  Dunmore  was  in  peril.  He  was  openly  re- 
fused protection  by  Turkish  officials  and  so  became  the 
common  prey  of  all  who  were  opposed  to  the  hated  Protes- 
tants.    Mr.  Dunmore  was  bold  but  tactful,  and  succeeded 


[130] 


EARLY    PIONEERING    AND    EXPLORATIONS 

finally  in  gaining  a  foothold  in  the  city,  although  dire 
persecution  was  meted  out  to  those  who  identified  them- 
selves with  him.  After  the  work  had  become  fairly  well 
established  there,  he  began  explorations  into  the  popu- 
lous, prosperous,  and  little  known  regions  lying  to  the 
north.  He  went  as  far  as  Erzerum,  visiting  Mardin, 
Arghuni,  Haine,  Harpoot,  Arabkir  and  many  other  towns 
of  importance  —  in  fact  including  in  his  tours  nearly  every 
city  of  influence  in  all  those  extensive  regions. 

Near  the  close  of  1852  he  was  at  Harpoot,  and  wrote 
most  enthusiastically  of  the  character  of  the  Armenians 
he  met  there,  and  also  of  the  strategic  location  of  the  city. 
He  says :  "  The  city  overlooks  a  vast,  rich  plain  studded 
with  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  villages,  of  from  one  hun- 
dred to  five  thousand  inhabitants  each,  nearly  all  Arme- 
nians, and  all  within  a  few  hours'  ride  of  the  city.  It 
presents,  therefore,  the  richest  country  and  the  most  in- 
viting and  promising  missionary  field  I  have  seen  in  Tur- 
key." He  went  on  at  length  to  describe  the  people,  the 
climate,  the  accessibility  of  the  vast  populations  on  all 
sides.  He  urgently  pleaded  for  missionaries  to  occupy  the 
city.  He  not  only  reported  upon  that  city,  but  upon  many 
other  places  from  twenty-five  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
away,  all  in  the  same  general  Euphrates  river  basin,  pre- 
senting such  a  glowing  account  of  it  all  that  within  two 
years  two  new  missionary  families  were  on  their  way  to 
occupy  the  field.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  every  large 
place  visited  by  Mr.  Dunmore  became,  not  many  years 
later,  either  the  residence  of  missionaries  or  a  center  of 
Christian    operations    under    trained   native   workers. 

Mr.  Dunmore's  gentle  firmness  and  absolute  fearless- 
ness made  a  profound  impression  upon  all  whom  he  met. 
He   did   much   to  prepare   the  minds   and  hearts   of   the 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


people  for  the  coming  of  those  who  followed  him;  as,  for 
instance,  after  enduring  stonings  and  revilings  and  open 
threats  of  assassination  at  Diarbekr,  he  went  boldly  to  the 
Turkish  governor  with  a  complaint  against  a  wealthy- 
Moslem  who  had  greatly  wronged  him.  The  governor 
gave  Httle  heed,  and  at  once  exonerated  the  Moslem.  Mr. 
Dunmore  announced  his  purpose  to  appeal  to  the  British 
Embassy  at  Constantinople,  even  to  make  the  journey  in 
person,  in  order  to  secure  justice.  The  governor,  after 
some  deliberation,  reversed  his  decision  and  put  the  Moslem 
in  prison  for  two  days.  When  he  was  released  he  called 
upon  the  missionary,  begged  his  pardon,  and  announced 
his  personal  friendship.  A  little  later,  another  Turk 
threatened  Mr.  Dunmore's  life  and  was  put  in  jail  for  it. 
This  seemed  to  be  what  was  required  in  order  to  give  the 
cause  standing  before  the  community,  for  the  attitude  of 
the  Turks  changed  at  once,  and  many  began  to  inquire 
about  the  truth  which  the  missionaries  were  teaching. 

Wherever  Mr.  Dunmore  went,  as  was  also  the  case  with 
Dr.  Grant,  the  way  was  remarkably  prepared  for  the 
missionaries  who  were  to  follow  them.  These  men  opened 
all  Eastern  Turkey  to  its  first  knowledge  of  Americans 
and  for  the  residence  of  missionaries. 

In  the  early  missionary  explorations  no  attention  was 
given  to  Arabia.  At  that  time  there  seems  to  have  been 
little  thought  about  the  conversion  of  the  Mohammedans, 
and  even  had  there  been,  the  other  parts  of  the  Turkish 
empire  afforded  a  sufficient  number  upon  which  to  begin. 
Arabia  seems  to  have  been  considered  a  remote  and  un- 
known land  to  which  no  missionary  turned  his  tours  of 
investigation  and  to  which  no  committee  at  home  com- 
missioned one  to  preach.  Arabia  was  indeed  a  remote 
country    before    the    Suez    Canal    was    opened   and   when 


[  132] 


EARLY    PIONEERING    AND    EXPLORATIONS 


Bombay  was  reached  by  sailing-vessels  going  around  the 
south  of  Africa.  Of  the  country  itself  httle  was  known, 
and  for  the  most  part  it  has  never  come  under  the  full 
control  of  the  sultan  of  Turkey  or  of  any  other  country. 
Of  the  six  miUion  inhabitants  of  Arabia  not  more  than 
one  milHon  two  hundred  thousand  are  confessedly  subjects 
of  the  sultan.  While  he  lays  claim  to  the  whole  counti'y 
he  has  not  been  able,  up  to  the  present  time,  wholly  to  make 
his  claims  good. 

In  Hejaz  and  Yemen,  regions  under  the  sultan,  no 
Christian  is  permitted  to  reside  or  travel,  and  in  the  rest 
of  the  country  the  ruling  emirs  or  imams  readily  inflict 
the  death  penalty  upon  Moslems  for  departure  from  the 
faith.  Long  after  the  Enghsh  took  control  of  Aden,  at 
the  extreme  southwestern  part  of  the  peninsula,  a  mis- 
sion was  opened  there  which  is  called  the  Keith-Falconer 
mission,  and  which  is  now  carried  on  by  the  United  Free 
Church  of  Scotland.  In  1889  an  independent  inter- 
denominational mission  was  opened  upon  the  western  shore 
of  the  Persian  Gulf.  Members  of  this  mission  have  pene- 
trated into  the  interior  of  the  country  and  have  given  to 
the  world  much  valuable  information  regarding  this  land 
of  mystery  and  its  inhabitants  of  ancient  name  and  fame. 
This  mission  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of  the  Reformed 
(Dutch)  Church  of  America  in  1894. 

It  is  remarkable  that  this  cradle  of  Islam,  lying  so  close 
to  the  great  highway  between  the  West  and  the  far  East, 
should  still  remain  practically  untouched  by  modern  edu- 
cation and  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity.  It 
cannot  long  maintain  its  barriers  against  the  onrush  of 
modem  thought  and  life. 


[  133 


ESTABLISHED   CENTERS 


So  far  as  Americans  are  concerned,  the  missionary  work  in  European 
Turkey  and  Asia  Minor  is  and  long  has  been  aknost  exclusively  in  the  hands 
of  the  American  Board.  In  no  part  of  the  world  has  that  Board  or  any  Board 
had  abler  or  more  devoted  representatives  to  preach  the  gospel,  to  conduct 
schools  and  colleges  or  to  establish  and  administer  hospitals.  Their  original 
aim  was  to  infuse  new  life  into  the  native  Armenian  and  Greek  churches,  to 
rescue  them  from  mere  formalism,  and  to  imbue  them  with  the  spirit  of  a 
pure  and  active  Christianity.  Circumstances  compelled  them  in  due  time  to 
organize  independent  churches  on  which  the  old  churches  at  first  looked  with 
unfriendly  eyes.  But  of  late  years  in  many  places  a  more  friendly  and  sym- 
pathetic spirit  has  been  manifested  towards  them  by  the  clergy  of  the  old 
order,  and  the  hfe  of  some  of  the  native  churches  has  been  quickened  by  the 
example  of  the  missionary  churches. 

The  excellence  of  our  schools  has  been  so  manifest  that  its  stimulating 
effect  has  been  felt  by  not  only  the  Armenian  and  Greek  schools,  but  also  by 
the  Turkish  schools. 

The  medical  work  of  our  missionary  physicians  has  also  widely  commended 
itself  to  men  of  all  faiths  and  has  awakened  a  decided  interest  not  only  in  the 
religion  which  so  humanely  brings  its  generous  hospital  treatment  to  all  who 
desire  it,  but  also  in  the  rational  system  of  medicine  and  surgery  which  it 
illustrates.  Even  the  Mohammedans  who  are  generally  inaccessible  to  the 
approaches  of  our  missionaries  cannot  but  have  some  appreciation  of  the 
benevolent  and  Christlike  work  of  our  physicians. 

Wherever  an  American  mission  is  established,  there  is  a  center  of  alert, 
enterprising  American  life,  whose  influence  in  a  hundred  ways  is  felt  even  by 
the  lethargic  Oriental  hfe.  —  Prof.  Jajies  B.  Angell,  LL.  D.,  University 
of  Michigan,  Ex.  U.  S.  Minister  to  Turkey  and  China. 


XIII.    ESTABLISHED   CENTERS 

SMYRNA  was  the  first  station  of  the  Levant  occupied 
by  American  missionaries.  This  was  an  important 
city  of  Turkey  and,  until  Constantinople  was  better 
understood,  was  considered  the  most  important  city  to  hold 
as  the  central  station  of  the  missions  to  Turkey.  Since 
1820  this  place  has  been  one  of  the  stations  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board  and  the  residence  of  one  or  more  missionary 
families.  This  was  regarded  as  a  good  starting-point  for 
work  among  the  Greeks,  as  well  as  other  races  centering 
there  in  large  numbers. 

Beirut,  after  an  attempt  to  locate  in  Jerusalem,  was 
occupied  as  a  station  three  years  later.  While  the  original 
plans  for  work  in  Syria  had  the  Jews  most  distinctly  in 
mind,  attention  was  quickly  diverted  to  other  races  more 
alert  and  promising. 

It  was  inevitable  that  Constantinople  should  early  be- 
come the  headquarters  of  missions  in  the  Ottoman  empire 
as  it  was  the  political  capital  and  commercial  metropolis. 
The  climate  is  healthy,  and  being  partly  in  Europe  and 
partly  in  Asia,  the  city  partakes  in  part  of  the  character 
of  both  continents. 

There  was  also  another  strong  reason  for  making 
Constantinople  the  headquarters  of  work  in  Turkey, 
namely,  the  fact  that  it  was  the  headquarters  of  every 
important  religious  sect  in  the  empire.  Opposition  to  mis- 
sion work  must  emanate  from  that  center  and  difficulties 
could  best  be  overcome  right  at  their  beginning.  As  it  was 
also  the  seat  of  government  from  which  governors  and 
civil  officers  were  sent  to  every  part  of  the  empire,  this 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


made  it  still  more  important  that  a  strong  mission  force 
should  reside  here,  in  order  that  these  men  should  not 
receive  the  impression  that  Christian  missionaries  are  ad- 
vancing upon  the  empire  only  through  remote  interior 
districts.  The  capital  was  occupied  as  a  mission  station 
of  the  Board  in  1831,  and  has  since  been  the  base  of  opera- 
tions for  the  work  of  the  American  Board  in  the  country. 
Tours  of  exploration  made  in  Asia  Minor  and  into  Koor- 
distan  and  Persia  started  from  this  center. 

Preliminary  explorations  had  been  made  by  various 
scientific  societies,  as  for  instance  that  of  John  M.  Parker, 
F.G.S.,  F.R.G.S.,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society  and  the  Society  for  Promoting  Chris- 
tian Knowledge,  in  1839-40.  They  went  overland  from 
Constantinople  to  Ca^sarea,  Malatia,  Diarbekr,  Mosul, 
Koordistan,  Bitlis,  Marash,  Erzerum,  Trebizond,  and 
thence  back  to  Constantinople.  The  report  of  this  ex- 
tended tour  through  Asia  Minor,  northern  Mesopotamia, 
Koordistan,  and  Armenia,  published  in  two  volumes,  under 
the  title  "  Travels  and  Researches  in  Asia  Minor,  Mesopo- 
tamia, Chaldea,  and  Armenia,"  was  of  great  value  to  the 
missionaries  in  planning  their  locations.  These  researches 
were  made  largely  from  the  purely  scientific  standpoint 
and  in  some  cases  needed  to  be  supplemented  by  mission- 
ary observations. 

The  establishing  of  mission  locations  over  the  vast 
areas  of  Asiatic  and  European  Turkey  was  not  hastily 
carried  out.  The  country  was  well  mapped  and  explored 
before  the  stations  were  opened,  and  then  only  such  places 
were  chosen  as  promised  to  be  central  to  large  popula- 
tions and  healthful  for  missionary  residences.  The  policy 
seems  to  have  been  early  adopted  to  set  the  stations  far 
apart,  with  two  or  more  missionary  families  in  each  of 


[138] 


ESTABLISHED    CENTERS 


them.  The  success  of  this  plan  has  proven  its  wisdom,  and 
even  now  the  tendency  is  to  greater  consolidation  in  im- 
portant centers  rather  than  to  a  scattering  of  forces. 

A  few,  and  but  a  few,  places  early  opened  as  stations 
were  later  abandoned.  Three  of  these  were  Mosul,  Diar- 
bekr,  and  Arabkir.  The  former  place  proved  to  be  exceed- 
ingly unhealthy  and  was  made  an  outstation  of  Mardin, 
while  the  two  latter  places  were  within  one  hundred  miles 
of  Harpoot  and  were  made  outstations.  The  carefulness 
and  foresight  with  which  the  early  stations  were  chosen 
are  proved  by  the  test  of  over  fifty  years  of  successful 
occupancy. 

Trebizond,  upon  the  southern  shore  of  the  Black  Sea 
towards  its  eastern  extremity,  was  occupied  as  a  station, 
as  already  stated,  in  1835.  It  is  a  large  city  of  great 
influence,  with  a  Greek,  Armenian,  and  Turkish  population. 

In  1839  a  missionary  family  was  sent  to  Erzerum,  one 
hundred  and  ten  miles  into  the  interior  to  the  southeast  of 
Trebizond.  As  soon  as  these  stations  were  opened  they 
became  the  centers  of  exploration  for  securing  and  for- 
warding information  to  the  headquarters  of  the  missions 
in  Constantinople  and  to  the  Board  in  Boston. 

Aintab  was  opened  in  what  was  then  called  "  Southern 
Armenia,"  in  1849,  and  became  the  center  for  operations 
upon  a  large  population  dwelling  in  northern  Syria,  ex- 
tending from  Urfa  on  the  east  into  the  Tarsus  moun- 
tains upon  the  west,  and  including  the  important  cities 
of  Marash,  opened  in  1855,  Adana,  Aleppo,  Tarsus, 
Hadjin,  Antioch,  Kilis,  and  many  other  towns  of  less  im- 
portance. Later  this  became  the  center  of  what  came  to 
be  known  as  the  Central  Turkey  Mission.  This  region  is 
approached  from  the  Mediterranean  and  is  inhabited 
chiefly  by  Armenians  and  Turks.     In  this  section  of  coun- 


139  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


try  the  Armenians  have  lost,  for  the  most  part,  their 
native  tongue,  and  speak  only  the  Turkish  language.  As 
the  Koords  and  more  savage  races  live  in  remote  regions, 
the  people  have  not  endured  the  persecution  here  that  their 
brethren  in  the  north  and  east  have  been  called  upon  to 
pass  through. 

In  1850  an  investigation  of  the  condition  of  the  Jews 
in  Salonica  was  made,  which  resulted  in  the  opening  of 
that  station  for  work,  especially  among  the  Jews.  There 
seems  to  have  been  no  thought  of  reaching  from  that 
station  any  other  races.  They  found  the  Jews  there 
extremely  ignorant,  and  divided  between  the  Rabbinicals 
and  the  Mohammedans.  The  unhealthy  condition  of  the 
city  led  in  1859  to  the  transfer  of  the  station  to 
Smyrna. 

The  more  interior  stations,  like  Marsovan,  Caesarea, 
Sivas,  Harpoot  and  Bitlis,  were  occupied  in  the  '50s, 
while  Van,  the  most  eastern  mission  station  in  Turkey, 
was  made  such  in  1872.  From  Constantinople  the  mis- 
sionaries had  been  gradually  reaching  out,  Nicomedia  and 
Brusa  having  been  made  stations  in  1847  and  1848, 
respectively. 

The  languages  used  in  these  missions  were  the  Arabic 
and  Syrian  in  the  Syrian  field  with  its  center  at  Beirut ; 
the  Turkish  language  in  the  Central  Turkey  region  with 
its  center  at  Aintab ;  the  Armenian  language  in  the 
Eastern  Turkey  district  with  its  center  at  Harpoot; 
while  Arabic  was  the  language  of  Mardin,  Mosul  and 
Arabia,  and  the  Greek,  Armenian,  Bulgarian  and  Tur- 
kish languages  in  the  Western  Turkey  mission  including 
Trebizond.  Various  plans  were  tried  at  first  of  grouping 
these  various  stations  for  purposes  of  control  and  adminis- 
tration.    They  could  not  all  be  classed  together  owing  to 


140  ] 


ESTABLISHED    CENTERS 


the  long  distances  separating  them  and  the  difficulties  of 
travel  in  a  country  with  no  roads  and  no  public  convey- 
ances. Finally  the  above  outlined  arrangement  of  the 
stations  was  adopted  and  each  separate  mission  became 
a  little  republic  in  itself,  holding  its  annual  meeting,  in 
which  delegates  from  all  the  stations  belonging  to  it  met 
and  legislated  for  it  as  a  whole.  In  1872  the  European 
Turkey  mission  also  became  separate  from  the  Western 
Turkey  mission  and  has  since  been  conducted  as  an  entirely 
distinct  organization. 

The  great  extent  of  territory  covered  by  these  missions 
can  best  be  understood  by  the  fact  that  but  few  stations 
anywhere  were  less  than  one  hundred  miles  apart.  The 
nearest  station  to  Harpoot  in  Eastern  Turkey  was  distant 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  a  six  days'  journey  by  the 
ordinary  mode  of  conveyance.  To  reach  some  of  the  in- 
terior stations  like  Bitlis,  Harpoot  and  Mardin  required 
an  overland  journey  on  horseback  of  from  three  to  four 
weeks  from  the  Black  Sea  coast.  Thus  the  country  was 
dotted  by  mission  stations  which  became  at  once  centers 
for  direct,  aggressive,  educational,  philanthropic  and 
Christian  work.  In  no  case  was  one  opened  except  upon 
the  urgent  invitation  of  a  large  number  of  the  people 
themselves.  A  station  meant  then,  as  it  means  to-day,  a 
center  in  which  missionaries  reside.  It  was  understood 
also  that  this  residence  was  permanent,  and  to  make  this 
clear  to  all,  houses  for  the  missionaries  were  purchased 
or  erected  and  other  arrangements  completed  for  a  life- 
work.  This  fact  in  itself  made  a  profound  impression 
upon  the  people  of  all  classes  and  religions.  When  it  was 
charged  that  the  missionary  movement  would  prove  to  be 
short-lived,  no  one  was  able  to  answer  the  question,  "What 
mean  these  residences  owned  by  the  missionaries.''  "     Cer- 


[  141 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


tainly,  if  it  was  the  purpose  to  carry  on  only  a  temporary 
work,  houses  would  have  been  leased.  Another  fact,  which 
gave  the  appearance  and  impression  of  permanency,  was 
that  the  missionaries  came  with  their  wives  and  set  up 
their  homes  there.  These  two  facts  had  much  to  do  in 
giving  stability  and  strength  to  the  earlier  work.  The 
three  men  and  their  wives  who  occupied  the  Harpoot 
station  in  1858  were  there  together  in  that  same  station 
until  after  the  massacres  of  1895,  when  owing  to  broken 
health  and  the  destruction  of  their  homes  four  of  them 
were  compelled  to  come  to  this  country.  Three  of  the  six 
are  still  living,  two  of  them  at  Harpoot.  The  policy  of 
married  missionaries  permanently  located  in  central  sta- 
tions and  from  there  working  together  as  a  unit  the  large 
adjacent  field,  has  proved  itself  to  be  a  wise  and  efficient 
policy  for  all  parts  of  Turkey.  This  policy  necessitates 
the  wide  use  of  trained  native  pastors,  preachers,  evange- 
lists and  teachers  who  occupy  the  outstations  and  push 
the  work  into  the  remoter  districts. 

Each  station  became  a  social  settlement,  in  which  the 
Christian  home  was  the  center  and  from  which  wholesome 
Christian  influences  were  exerted  upon  all  with  whom  the 
missionaries  came  in  contact.  The  plan  involved  the 
elevation  and  purification  of  the  entire  social  fabric  of 
the  country,  and,  judged  from  our  modern  standpoint,  no 
more  effectual  way  of  accomplishing  this  could  have  been 
devised.  It  is  no  small  thing  for  devout  philanthropists 
in  England  and  the  United  States  to  give  up  their  com- 
fortable homes  and  estabhsh  their  residence,  as  many  have 
done  and  are  still  doing,  among  the  downtrodden  and  op- 
pressed in  our  great  cities.  It  is  well  known,  however,  that 
this  change  of  residence  is  not  permanent  and  that,  in  cases 
of  sickness,  the  old  home  and  friends  remain,  to  which  re- 


[  142  ] 


ESTABLISHED    CENTERS 


turn  can  be  made.  With  those  missionaries  the  case  was 
different.  Their  homes  in  America  were  broken  up.  They 
took  up  their  abode  in  the  interior  cities  of  Turkey  for  hfe. 
In  times  of  sickness  they  remained.  No  friends  from  home 
visited  them,  and  in  case  of  their  death,  their  bodies  were 
buried  in  the  soil  of  the  land.  There  were  their  children 
born,  and  in  multitudes  of  cases,  because  of  the  severity  of 
the  climate  and  the  lack  of  proper  facilities  for  safeguard- 
ing their  health,  there  also  were  they  buried.  Herein  lie 
many  elements  of  m.oral  strength  which  appear  in  the 
foreign  missionary  movement.  It  is  this  feature  which  has 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  races  of  Turkey  and 
which  is  now  reshaping  its  social  system. 

In  1860,  after  forty  years  of  exploration  and  study  in 
the  Turkish  empire,  so  far  as  her  people  and  their  moral 
and  spiritual  needs  were  concerned,  missionary  work  had 
been  outlined  for  at  least  five  different  races.  Interest  in 
the  Jews  had  been  continued,  and  a  missionary.  Dr. 
SchaufHer,  intended  exclusively  for  work  among  them,  had 
been  maintained,  not  at  Jerusalem  but  at  Constantinople. 
He  was  working  in  harmony  with  the  three  English  and 
Scottish  societies,  each  of  whom  was  maintaining  mission- 
aries to  the  Jews,  with  headquarters  at  Constantinople. 
The  work  done  was  quiet,  exciting  apparently  less  interest 
among  the  people  of  Turkey  than  among  the  organizers 
of  societies  in  the  United  States  for  work  among  this  race. 
Undoubtedly,  during  the  first  generation  of  work  in  the 
Ottoman  empire,  the  people  of  the  United  States  and 
England  were  more  stirred  by  appeals  for  work  among 
the  Jews  than  by  any  other  appeal  which  was  or  could 
be  made. 

The  work  for  the  Greeks  was  promising  in  Smyrna  and 
Constantinople.     Owing  to  Greece  obtaining  her  freedom 


[143] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


from  the  rule  of  the  sultan,  Greeks  still  living  in  Turkey 
were  drawn  away  in  their  sympathies  and  interest  to 
Greece,  and  the  spirit  of  patriotism  was  strong  in  holding 
them  to  the  national  Church. 

Among  the  Syrians  a  hold  was  obtained  in  spite  of  the 
intense  opposition  of  the  Roman  Catholics  who  claimed  all 
Syrians  as  belonging  to  them.  The  severest  opposition 
during  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  mission  effort  in 
Turkey  came  not  from  the  Turks  but  from  the  Roman 
Catholics,  who  did  not  stop  at  the  employnjent  of  any 
measure  which  would  tend  to  banish  the  printing-press 
and  curtail  the  work  of  the  Protestant  missionaries. 

The  Mohammedans  commanded  early  attention.  They 
were  drawn  to  the  missionaries  by  the  fact  that  no  pictures 
or  images  were  used  in  Protestant  worship  nor  gaudy 
display  made  in  any  public  services.  Repeatedly  Turks 
said  to  the  missionaries,  "  You  are  like  us,  you  are  good 
Moslems."  As  acquaintance  increased,  interest  deepened 
in  this  dominant  race.  Conditions  were  such  that  little 
directly  aggressive  effort  could  be  wisely  made  for  their 
immediate  enlightenment.  Much  was  done  in  the  way  of 
private  conversation  and  through  the  preparation  and 
publication  of  a  Christian  literature  adapted  to  their 
needs. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  the  Armenians  most  com- 
pletely commanded  both  the  interest  of  the  missionaries 
and  the  attention  of  the  constituency  at  home.  The  most 
of  the  stations  in  the  country  were  established  especially 
for  this  race.  They  were  found  at  every  center.  Even  in 
Syria  and  in  all  of  the  interior  stations,  Armenians  and 
Turks  were  the  chief  people  with  whom  the  missionaries 
constantly  came  in  contact.  Interest  in  Armenians  was 
strengthened  by  the  intense  persecutions  through  which 


144  ] 


ESTABLISHED    CENTERS 


the  evangelicals  passed  in  the  early  '40s,  at  the  hand  of 
their  own  ecclesiastics.  They  were  open-minded,  able,  and 
devout,  and  presented  a  wide  opportunity  for  sowing  the 
seeds  of  intelligent  belief.  At  that  time  little  had  been  done 
for  the  Bulgarians  in  European  Turkey  and  Macedonia. 
The  more  remote  Asiatic  field  had  proved  to  be  so  large 
and  so  interesting  that  there  had  been  scant  pause  to  look 
into  the  conditions  and  needs  of  the  people  so  near  at  hand, 
occupying  the  southeastern  corner  of  Europe. 

Levi  Parsons  and  Pliny  Fisk,  writing  from  Smyrna  to 
the  Board  rooms  in  February,  1820,  said,  "  In  all  the 
populous  Catholic  and  Mohammedan  countries  on  the 
north  and  south  side  of  the  Mediterranean  there  is  not  a 
single  Protestant  missionary.  In  all  the  Turkish  empire, 
containing  perhaps  twenty  million  souls,  not  one  mission- 
ary station  is  permanently  occupied  and  but  a  single 
missionary  besides  ourselves."  This  one  man  did  not  long 
remain.  Besides  the  English  work  among  the  Jews  and 
Turks  in  Constantinople  and  Palestine,  the  evangelization 
of  the  Turkish  empire  was  left  from  the  first  to  the  Amer- 
ican Board.  In  later  years  the  Disciples  of  Christ  and 
the  Seventh  Day  Adventists  have  sent  a  few  missionaries 
into  the  country,  but  their  work  has  been  almost  exclu- 
sively among  the  Protestants  and  has  resulted  only  in 
dividing  churches  already  organized.  The  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  England  has  had  some  work  in  Bagdad, 
and  a  Scotch  society  in  Aden  and  the  Reformed  Church 
of  the  United  States  has  recently  begun  operations  upon 
the  southern  coast  of  Arabia.  With  a  few  other  minor 
exceptions,  the  Turkish  empire  north  of  Syria  has  been 
generally  conceded  to  be  the  distinctive  mission  field  of  the 
American   Board  of  Missions. 

When  the  division  of  fields  took  place  in  1870  between 

f  145  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


the  American  Board  and  the  newly  organized  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Missions,  southern  Syria  and  Persia  were  as- 
signed to  that  Board,  while  the  American  Board  retained 
northern  Syria  and  all  the  rest  of  Turkey.  In  European 
Turkey  the  same  Board  is  in  sole  charge  of  all  the  evan- 
gelical work  for  and  among  the  Bulgarians  south  of  the 
Balkans,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Board  of  the  United 
States  having  a  work  among  the  same  people  north  of  the 
Balkans.  Thus  Macedonia  and  Bulgaria  south  of  the 
Balkans,  Asia  Minor,  Armenia,  Koordistan,  northern  Syria 
and  northern  Mesopotamia  are  left  the  sole  field  of  the 
American  Board,  with  the  few  exceptions  mentioned  above. 
This  has  put  upon  it  a  responsibility  and  placed  before  it 
an  opportunity  such  as  few  mission  agencies  in  modem 
times  have  had  to  face. 


146 


BEGINNINGS  IN  REFORM 


I  HAD  occasion  some  years  ago  to  visit  a  considerable  part  of  Turkey, 
from  Constantinople  and  Beirut  to  Mosul  and  Bagdad,  and  everywhere  I 
paid  particular  attention  to  missionary  conditions  and  the  influence  of  mission 
work  upon  the  people.  This  is  a  land  assigned  almost  wholly  to  American 
Missionary  Boards,  and  the  influence  is  everjTvhere  marked  and  exceUent. 
The  late  Premier  Stvilofi'  told  me  in  Sofia  that  but  for  young  men  educated  by 
American  teachers  in  Constantinople,  Bulgaria  when  it  became  independent 
would  have  had  to  depend  on  Russians  for  administrative  officers.  He  was 
himself,  hke  so  many  other  distinguished  Bulgarians,  a  graduate  of  Robert 
College.  In  Syria  a  native  physician,  graduated  at  the  Syrian  Protestant 
College,  said  to  me,  "We  say,  'After  God,  van  Dyke.'"  In  the  interior  cities, 
such  as  Marash,  Aintab,  Urfa,  INIardin  and  Diarbekr,  the  American  schools 
and  the  large  self-supporting  churches  were  evidences  of  the  new  evangelic 
spirit  and  culture  which  had  put  new  heart  into  those  ancient  seats  of  in- 
tellectual decay.  About  Harpoot  there  were  thousands  who  had  learned 
Enghsh,  and  hundreds  have  come  from  there  to  this  country  believing  it  to  be 
a  very  paradise.  The  contrast  was  sad  enough  when  I  came  into  the  towns 
south  from  Mosul  where  American  missionary  influence  had  not  reached,  and 
scarce  any  signs  of  intellectual  or  material  improvement  were  to  be  found. 
I  am  convinced  that  the  work  of  devoted,  inteUigent,  broad-minded  mission- 
aries is  far  more  efl^ective  in  Ufting  a  people  out  of  ignorance  and  social  decay 
into  enlightened  civihzation,  than  all  the  influences  of  commerce  or  mere 
governmental  policy.  Our  missionaries  bring  the  motive  of  faith  as  the 
example  of  unselfish  service  which  nothing  else  can  supply.  —  William 
Hayes  Wakd,  LL.  D.,  Editor  "New  York  Independent." 


XIV.    BEGINNINGS  IN  REFORM 

DURING  the  first  generation  of  missionary  opera- 
tions in  Turkey  there  were  few  tangible  results  ex- 
cept among  the  Armenians.  The  Mohammedans 
were  by  no  means  entirely  hostile  and  revealed  much  friend- 
liness and  often  open  sympathy.  The  Jews  presented 
almost  a  sohd  wall  of  stolid  opposition  to  the  effort  for  re- 
form among  them,  while  the  Syrians  and  Greeks,  under  the 
leadership  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  were  often  violent  in 
their  open  attacks  and  secret  plottings  to  thwart  every  at- 
tempt of  the  missionaries  to  gain  a  foothold  in  the  country. 
The  people  in  all  the  empire  who  seemed  to  have  been  espe- 
cially prepared  to  receive  and  profit  by  evangelical  teaching 
were  the  Armenians,  who  were  not  distinctly  in  mind  when 
mission  work  in  Turkey  was  first  contemplated.  In  fact, 
almost  nothing  was  then  known  of  these  people  in  the 
world  at  large  and  among  the  Christians  of  the  United 
States  who  were  supporting  the  cause  of  foreign  missions. 

While  the  American  Board  contemplated  extending  its 
missions  in  the  Levant  to  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  and 
especially  into  Armenia,  no  mention  whatever  seems  to 
have  been  made  of  the  Armenians  in  connection  with  the 
beginning  of  the  first  "  mission  to  Palestine." 

Not  long  after  Rev.  Levi  Parsons  arrived  at  Jerusalem 
in  1821  and  upon  his  first  visit  there,  he  came  into  contact 
with  some  Armenian  pilgrims  with  whom  he  had  conver- 
sation upon  the  subject  of  missions  to  their  people  and 
country.  These  expressed  themselves  as  eager  to  have 
missionaries  sent  to  them.  Mr.  Fisk  at  about  the  same 
time,  writing  to  Boston  from  Smyrna,  recommended  the 

[  1-19  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


appointment  of  missionaries  to  Armenia.  From  this  time 
the  idea  of  work  among  the  Armenians  enlarged  and 
deepened,  although  the  "  mission  to  the  Jews  "  was  kept 
persistently  at  the  front. 

There  had  been  a  vast  deal  of  preparation  of  the 
Armenian  people  for  a  work  of  reform,  emanating  from 
sources  quite  outside  of  the  Board  and,  in  fact,  consider- 
ably anterior  to  its  organization.  Somewhere  about  1760, 
an  Armenian  priest,  who  was  burning  with  the  desire  to 
reform  the  Armenian  Church,  appeared  in  Constantinople. 
He  saw  and  deeply  felt  the  gross  errors  of  the  Gregorian 
Church,  and  wrote  a  book  exposing  them.  He  was  an 
educated  man  and  seems  to  have  been  more  or  less  familiar 
with  the  work  of  Martin  Luther,  of  whose  Reformation  he 
heartily  approved.  He  constantly  referred  to  the  Bible 
and  to  this  high  standard  he  mercilessly  brought  his 
Church  and  its  clergy.  The  inconsistent  life  of  the  priests 
and  bishops,  and  the  gross  superstitions  of  the  people  at 
large,  greatly  troubled  him.  He  lacked,  however,  true 
spiritual  enlightenment  and  power,  and  failed  to  see  divine 
truth  in  its  breadth  and  purity.  His  book  was  never 
printed,  but  copies  were  kept  in  various  places  which  were 
brought  to  light  and  repeatedly  referred  to  later.  This 
effort  had  wide  influence  in  revealing  the  errors  of  the 
Armenian  Church,  and  did  much  to  prepare  the  way  for 
the  genuine  reformatory  movement. 

In  1813,  six  years  before  the  American  Board  appointed 
its  first  missionary  to  Palestine,  the  British  and  Russian 
Bible  Societies  made  strenuous  efforts  to  provide  for  the 
Armenian  people  a  Bible  in  their  own  tongue.  An  edition 
of  an  old  fourth  century  ArxHenian  version  of  the  entire 
Bible  was  commenced  in  that  year  at  St.  Petersburg  by 
the  Russian   Bible   Society,  and  at  about   the  same  time 


[150] 


BEGINNINGS    IN    REFORM 


another  edition  of  the  same  Bible  was  put  on  the  press  by 
the  Calcutta  Auxiliary  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society.  The  Russian  edition  of  five  thousand  copies  was 
out  in  1815,  and  the  British  edition  of  two  thousand 
copies  appeared  two  years  later.  The  Russian  Society 
issued  a  separate  edition  of  two  thousand  copies  of  the 
Ancient  Armenian  New  Testament. 

In  their  report  of  1814  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  said  that  the  printing  of  the  Armenian  Testament 
had  aroused  much  interest  among  the  Armenians,  espe- 
cially those  in  Russia.  Emperor  Alexander  at  that  time 
took  a  keen  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Russian  Bible 
Society  and  therefore  the  cause  itself  became  popular 
among  all  classes.  The  Armenian  Catholicos,  the  spir- 
itual head  of  that  Church,  with  residence  at  Etchmiadzin, 
now  in  Russia,  bordering  upon  Armenia,  was  elected  one 
of  the  vice-presidents  of  the  society.  He  wrote  a  letter 
to  its  president  commending  the  work  of  the  society,  and 
approving  of  the  plan  to  supply  his  own  people  with  the 
Word  of  God.  The  Armenian  archbishop  of  Tiflis  con- 
tributed six  hundred  roubles  for  that  purpose. 

In  1818  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  pur- 
chased one  thousand  five  hundred  copies  of  the  Arme- 
nian New  Testament  from  the  Armenian  Catholic  College 
located  on  the  Island  of  St.  Lazarus,  Venice,  for  distri- 
bution among  the  Armenians.  Later,  a  still  larger  number 
was  purchased  and  distributed  in  the  same  way.  In  1823 
the  same  Bible  Society  published  at  Constantinople  an 
edition  of  five  thousand  copies  of  the  Armenian  New  Testa- 
ment and  three  thousand  copies  of  the  four  Gospels  alone. 
These  books  were  rapidly  distributed  by  agents  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  by  Mr.  Connor  of 
the  Church  Missionary  Society,  at  that  time  in  Constan- 

ri5ii 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


tinople,  among  the  Armenians  of  the  Trans-Caucasian 
provinces  in  Russia  and  in  Turkey. 

These  facts  have  an  important  bearing  upon  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  Armenians  for  a  reform  movement.  Hitherto, 
while  they  had  the  Bible  in  its  entirety,  it  was  mostly  in 
manuscript  form,  and  inaccessible  to  the  people.  These 
valuable  copies  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  kept  in  the 
monasteries  or  in  the  larger  churches,  carefully  guarded 
by  the  priests  or  other  custodians,  who  usually  were  them- 
selves unable  to  read  or  understand  the  writing.  All  the 
Armenians  everywhere  accepted  the  Bible  as  the  divine 
and  inspired  Word  of  God. 

The  name  of  the  Bible  is  Astvadsashoonch,  or  "  The 
breath  of  God."  With  joy  they  welcomed  the  printed 
word  that  could  be  kept  in  their  houses,  handled  with  their 
own  hands,  and  perused  at  their  leisure.  Hitherto  they 
had  been  permitted  only  to  kiss  its  silver  adorned  covers 
at  the  close  of  the  formal  services  of  their  churches. 

It  was  soon  found,  however,  that  the  ancient  Armenian, 
the  language  of  all  the  manuscripts  of  the  Bible  and 
rituals  of  the  Old  Church  and  also  of  the  Bibles  and  Testa- 
ments recently  printed,  was  not  understood  by  the  common, 
uneducated  people.  As  the  educated  were  few,  the  number 
of  intelligent  readers  was  greatly  limited.  This  number 
was  confined  practically  to  the  higher  clergy,  a  few  priests 
and  vartabeds,  and  the  teachers  in  the  schools.  In  order 
to  reach  the  common  people,  the  Russian  Bible  Society 
issued  in  1822  and  1823  a  New  Testament  translated  into 
Turkish  and  printed  with  the  Armenian  character.  As  a 
large  proportion  of  the  Armenians  understood  Turkish 
this  version  brought  to  them  the  Word  of  God. 

Hitherto  the  Armenian  ecclesiastics  had  made  little  or 
no  opposition  to  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  among  the 


[  152  ] 


BEGINNINGS    IN    REFORM 


people,  while  some  of  the  most  prominent  seemed  to  favor 
the  work.  In  1823  the  agents  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  at  Constantinople  endeavored  to  secure  the 
sanction  of  the  Armenian  patriarch  for  the  printing  and 
circulation  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  modern,  spoken 
Armenian  tongue,  the  home  language  of  most  of  the 
Armenians  in  Turkey.  They  were  met  with  the  severest 
opposition,  and  with  threats  of  prohibiting  the  reading  of 
the  book  if  it  should  be  issued. 

Without  attempting  to  follow  the  course  of  Bible  pub- 
lication, upon  which  depended  the  plan  of  reform  for  both 
the  Armenian  and  Greek  churches  as  well  as  for  all  the 
other  races  dwelling  in  the  empire,  suffice  it  to  say  that 
the  hostility  of  the  Armenian  clergy,  called  forth  by  the 
publication  of  the  modern  Armenian  version  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, started  a  conflict,  which  waged  throughout  the 
country  for  more  than  a  generation,  as  to  whether  that 
version  was  the  true  Word  of  God.  The  ancient  Armenian 
Scriptures  were  translated  from  the  Septuagint  and  the 
Latin  Vulgate  while  the  modern  versions  were  made  from 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek.  For  this  reason  there  were  many 
discrepancies  between  the  two  versions  which  were  dis- 
cussed everywhere.  This  drove  the  people  to  a  careful 
study  of  the  Bible.  If  it  could  be  once  established  that  the 
modern  version  was  also  the  "  Word  of  God,"  there  could 
be  no  hesitation  upon  the  part  of  the  Armenians  in  ac- 
cepting it  as  such.  This  phase  of  the  controversy  passed 
fully  forty  years  ago,  and  throughout  the  country  this 
version  is  now  accepted  as  Astvadsashoonch  or  the  ver^ 
itahle  Word  of  God.  It  was,  however,  for  many  years  a 
vital  question  which  commanded  the  attention  and  energy 
of  the  strongest  men  of  the  race. 

The  work  of  Bible  translation  and  publication  has  con- 

f  153  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


tinued  under  the  patronage  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  and  the  American  Bible  Society  until  the 
entire  Bible  is  now  available  for  all  Turkish,  Arabic, 
Syrian,  Persian,  Armenian,  Bulgarian,  and  Greek  speaking 
peoples,  and  parts  of  the  same  are  available  for  the 
Koords  and  Albanians.  Nothing  in  the  line  of  reform  in 
Turkey  has  been  more  potent  than  the  Word  of  God  in 
the  spoken  languages  of  its  many-tongued  people,  put  up 
in  cheap  form  and  in  convenient  sizes  and  widely  distrib- 
uted in  all  parts  of  the  empire.  The  Bible  is  not  only 
welcomed  by  nearly  all  classes,  but  it  is  eagerly  sought 
by  many  who  are  remotely  informed  of  its  contents  but 
who  are  eager  to  investigate  for  themselves.  It  is  an  inter- 
esting fact  that  wherever  the  Bible,  and  especially  the 
New  Testament,  has  been  most  widely  read,  there  the 
people  have  been  the  more  determined  to  have  modem 
educational  facilities  for  their  children  and  better  prepared 
to  welcome  the  better  forms  of  Western  civilization. 


154  ] 


LEADERS,  METHODS,  AND  ANATHEMAS 


I  MUST  frankly  confess  that  when  I  first  went  to  Turkey  I  was  somewhat 
prejudiced  against  the  missionaries  there  and  missionary  work,  to  this  extent: 
As  what,  I  suppose,  you  might  call  a  high  Anghcan,  I  looked  with  a  certain 
esteem  and  regard  upon  the  old  churches  of  the  East  and  it  seemed  to  me 
theoretically  that  the  proper  metliod  of  missionary  enterprise  was  to  try  to 
cooperate  with  those  churches,  helping  them  to  educate  and  evangehze 
themselves.  As  a  result  of  contact  fhst  with  the  Congregational  missionaries 
of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  this  prejudice  very  speedily  vanished.  I  found  those 
men  not  only  most  earnest  and  devout  Cliristians,  but,  so  to  speak,  thoroughly 
Catholic  and  non-partisan,  and  I  found  that  they  had  profoundly  influenced 
for  good  the  ancient  Christian  churches  where  they  had  come  in  contact  with 
them  and,  in  fact,  regenerated  (I  think  the  term  is  not  too  strong)  the  Arme- 
nian Church.  They  themselves  were  men  not  only  of  culture  and  refinement 
and  earnest  rehgious  devotion,  but  of  broad,  statesmanlike  views,  an  imusual 
group. 

At  Constantinople  I  was  also  brought  into  close  contact  with  the  men  and 
women  conducting  the  two  great  colleges,  Robert  College  at  Roumelia  Hissar 
and  the  Woman's  College  at  Scutari,  and  had  some  opportunity  to  estimate 
the  value  of  that  work  and  its  profound  influence  as  a  civihzing  agent  on  the 
community  at  large.  Later  1  was  brought  into  contact  with  the  Syrian 
Protestant  College  at  Beirut,  and  with  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian 
missionaries  through  SjTia,  and  the  favorable  impressions  made  at  Con- 
stantinople were  confirmed  and  strengthened.  My  travels  into  regions 
touched  by  American  missionaries,  and  beyond  the  confines  of  those  regions, 
enabled  me  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  real  influence  of  the  missionaries  on 
the  country  at  large.  It  has  been  enormous.  One  thing,  especially,  the 
missionaries  have  given  honor  everywhere  to  the  American  name,  so  that  to 
be  known  as  an  American  almost  anywhere  in  Turkey,  is  to  ensure  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people.  That  name  is  the  synonym  of  honest  and  disinterested 
service  of  one's  fellow  men.  I  wish  that  the  name  American  carried  in  every 
coimtry  the  meaning  which  American  missionaries  have  caused  it  to  bear  in 
Turkey,  and  1  may  add  in  Bulgaria. 

But  1  must  not  be  too  lengthy.  I  am  apt  to  wax  enthusiastic  when  I  speak 
on  this  subject,  and  am  sometimes  afraid  my  language  may  seem  extravagant. 
It  is  difficult  to  comprehend  how  such  a  relatively  small  body  of  men,  with 
such  a  relatively  small  expenditure  of  money,  has  made  so  profound  an 
impression  on  the  fife  of  the  people  of  the  empire  as  has  been  made  by  the 
American  missionaries  and  the  American  schools  and  colleges.  They  have 
been  the  great  means  of  uplift,  both  directly  and  also  indirectly,  in  causing 
the  establishment  by  other  nations  and  by  the  Turks  themselves,  of  schools 
and  the  like,  thus  diffusing  still  further  education. 

I  wish  I  had  time  and  space  to  speak  further  of  the  great  needs  of  the 
people  of  Turkey  which  must  be  met,  if  at  all,  through  missionary  agencies 
and  of  the  great  opportunities  which  the  field  presents  in  spite  of  all  hindrances 
and  diflBciUties.  —  Prof.  John  P.  Peters,  D.  D.,  ScD.,  Explorer. 


XV.    LEADERS,   METHODS,  AND 
ANATHEMAS 

IT  should  be  stated  at  the  outset  that  the  purpose  of  the 
American  Board  in  its  efforts  for  the  Armenians  was 
not  to  weaken  the  old  Gregorian  Church  or  to  prose- 
lyte from  it.  There  was  no  desire  to  form  among  the  Ar- 
menians an  evangelical  or  Protestant  Church.  There  was 
no  purpose  to  form  any  organization  among  them,  but 
simply  to  introduce  the  New  Testament  in  the  spoken 
tongue  of  the  people  and  to  assist  them  in  working  out  re- 
forms in  their  old  Church  and  under  their  own  leaders. 

The  first  missionary  sent  to  Constantinople  by  the 
Board  was  the  Rev.  William  Goodell,  transferred  from 
Beirut  by  way  of  Malta  to  open  a  mission  at  the  capital 
of  the  empire  with  a  view  to  reaching  the  Armenians  there. 
In  his  work  of  translating  the  Bible  into  Armeno-Turkish 
at  Beirut  he  had  been  ably  assisted  by  two  prominent 
Armenians,  one  a  bishop  and  one  a  learned  vartabed,  who 
had  fully  accepted  the  modern  Bible  and  were  firm  be- 
lievers in  the  necessity  of  reform  for  the  Armenian  Church. 
Dr.  Goodell  may  be  called  the  father  of  the  Armenian 
mission  and  the  shaper  of  its  policy.  He  was  a  man  of 
great  intellectual  abiUty,  clear  spiritual  insight  and  prac- 
tical wisdom.  After  familiarizing  himself  with  the  situa- 
tion at  Constantinople  he  wrote: 

"In  ahnost  every  place  individuals  are  found  who  are  so  far 
enlightened  as  to  see  and  feel  that  their  churches  are  abominably 
corrupt,  and  who  do  sincerely  desire  a  reform.  We  ourselves  at 
this  place  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Church,  its  dogmas,  cere- 
monies and  superstitions,  nor  do  we  ever  think  of  meddling  with 

[157] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


the  convents,  the  priests,  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  etc.  In  fact, 
we  stand  nearly  as  far  aloof  from  ecclesiastical  matters  as  we  do 
from  political  matters.  We  find  no  occasion  to  touch  them.  We 
direct  men  to  their  own  hearts  and  to  the  Bible.  Nor  do  we  make 
any  attempt  to  establish  a  new  Church  or  raise  up  a  new  party.  We 
disdain  everything  of  the  kind.  We  tell  them  frankly,  'You  have 
sects  enough  among  you  already,  and  we  have  no  design  of  setting 
up  a  new  one,  or  of  pulling  down  your  churches,  or  drawing  away 
members  from  them  in  order  to  build  up  our  own.'  No,  let  him 
who  is  a  Greek  be  a  Greek  still,  and  him  who  is  an  Armenian  be  an 
Armenian  still." 

In  another  place  he  wrote,  "  The  less  that  Is  said  and 
known  about  our  operations  so  much  the  better.  A  great 
deal  can  be  done  in  a  silent,  harmless,  inoffensive  way  in 
these  countries,  but  nothing  in  a  storm."  Again  he  said, 
"  Our  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  we  are  building  up  no 
Church  here,  nor  forming  any  ecclesiastical  organization 
whatever." 

These  utterances  of  Dr.  Goodell,  which  might  be  greatly 
multiplied,  are  enough  to  show  the  plan  he  had  worked 
out  for  mission  operations  among  the  Oriental  churches. 
The  attitude  of  the  officers  of  the  Board  in  Boston  was  in 
full  accord  with  this  purpose  and  method.  In  a  word,  the 
aim  of  missions  to  the  Oriental  churches  was  not  to  organ- 
ize a  separate  Church  but  to  give  them  the  Word  of  God 
in  their  own  spoken  tongue,  help  them  to  understand  its 
teachings,  and  then  to  cooperate  with  them  in  organizing 
and  carrying  out  such  measures  of  reform  as  might  seem 
wise  and  practicable  to  their  own  leaders.  In  carrying 
out  this  plan  no  separate  meetings  were  begun.  The  only 
distinct  religious  services  carried  on  in  Constantinople  by 
the  missionaries  in  all  these  years  of  beginnings  were  pri- 
vate worship  in  English  for  themselves,  their  children,  and 


[15G1 


LEADERS,    METHODS,    AND    ANATHEMAS 

other  English  speaking  people  in  the  city  who  chose  to 
join  them.  Apart  from  this,  their  time  was  given  to 
personal  conversation  with  individuals,  dwelling  largely 
upon  the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  Men  who  felt 
they  must  separate  from  the  old  Church  were  persuaded 
to  remain  within  the  Church  and  to  work  there  for  gradual 
reforms.  These  purposes  and  plans  were  talked  over 
freely  with  the  patriarch,  with  the  priests,  bishops,  and 
leaders  of  the  Church,  and  met  with  their  hearty  ap- 
proval. The  missionaries  attended  the  services  of  the  old 
Church  upon  the  Sabbath  and  on  special  occasions  at 
other  times,  and  frequently  took  part,  as  they  were  invited 
so  to  do.  The  contemplated  reforms  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  ecclesiastical  systems  or  ritual  then  dominating. 
There  was  no  desire  to  change  these.  The  one  aim  was  as 
declared  in  the  expression  frequently  used,  "  To  build  up 
truth."     When  truth  prevails  error  will  depart. 

It  was  plain  to  all,  and  to  none  more  than  to  the 
Armenian  leaders,  that  no  permanent  reforms  could  be 
wrought  out  within  the  Church  without  schools  for  the 
education  of  priests.  It  was  apparent  that,  so  long  as 
the  ministers  in  the  churches  were  for  the  most  part 
untaught,  ignorant,  and  often  coarse,  the  Church  could 
never  be  lifted  from  its  low  intellectual,  moral,  and  spir- 
itual plane.  Because  of  the  general  ignorance  of  so  many 
of  the  clergy,  the  cause  of  education  among  the  Arme- 
nians had  everywhere  gone  into  decadence.  Fully  recogniz- 
ing these  conditions  and  needs,  and  at  the  same  time  aware 
that  the  situation  was  delicate.  Dr.  Goodell  and  his  as- 
sociates, instead  of  starting  mission  schools,  persuaded 
the  Greeks  and  the  Armenians  to  establish  schools  of  their 
own,  proffering  missionary  assistance  as  it  might  be 
called  for. 

[159] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


At  about  the  time  mission  work  began  in  Turkey,  the 
system  of  schools  organized  by  Joseph  Lancaster  of  Eng- 
land was  attracting  much  attention,  not  only  in  that 
country  but  in  the  United  States.  This  was  a  monitor 
system  requiring  few  trained  teachers,  no  text-books,  and 
seemed  to  command  popular  interest  wherever  tried,  and 
undoubtedly  afforded  a  quick  and  superficial  exhibit  of 
progress  in  the  pupils.  Lancasterian  schools  were  having 
a  period  of  great  popularity  in  Greece.  They  spread  to 
Constantinople  and  were  at  once  adopted  by  Greeks, 
Armenians,  and  Turks.  These  had  the  effect  of  arousing 
the  popular  mind,  and  awaking  a  desire  for  an  education. 
These  schools  were,  for  the  most  part,  religious,  but  not 
sectarian.  They  were  not  long  continued  by  either  the 
Turks  or  the  Greeks,  but  the  seed  of  learning  fell  into 
especially  fruitful   soil  among  the  Armenians. 

Another  influence  had  been  operating  at  the  capital 
leading  towards  tliis  same  end.  When  Jonas  King  left 
Syria  he  wrote  a  farewell  letter  dwelling  at  length  upon 
the  needs  of  reform  in  the  Oriental  churches,  with  many 
Scriptural  references  to  prove  his  position.  An  Armenian 
bishop,  Dionysius,  translated  this  letter  into  Armenian, 
and  in  1827  a  manuscript  copy  was  sent  by  him  to  some 
of  the  more  influential  Armenians  in  Constantinople.  The 
effect  of  it  was  remarkable.  A  meeting  was  called  in  the 
Armenian  Patriarchal  Church  at  which  the  letter  was  read 
and  the  Scriptures  referred  to  examined.  By  common 
consent  it  was  there  agreed  that  the  Church  needed  re- 
forming. The  well  known  school  of  Pashtimalj  ian  was  the 
direct  outgrowth  of  that  meeting.  It  was  there  decided 
that  no  Armenian  priest  should  be  ordained  in  Constan- 
tinople who  had  not  completed  a  regular  course  of  study 
in  that  school. 


[160] 


LEADERS,    METHODS,    AND    ANATHEMAS 

This  school  exerted  a  strong  influence  in  preparing  the 
minds  of  a  large  body  of  young  men  to  receive  the  truth 
and  later  to  become  leaders  in  the  movement  towards  re- 
form. Pashtimaljian  himself  was  an  Armenian  of  remark- 
able abiUty  and  strength.  He  was  an  accurate  scholar  and 
a  critical  student  of  the  Armenian  language  and  literature, 
and,  although  a  layman,  was  well  versed  in  Eastern  theol- 
ogy and  Church  history.  He  was  equally  accurate  and 
thorough  in  his  study  of  the  Bible.  His  leadership  was 
recognized  by  the  Armenians.  He  was  a  friend  of  the 
missionaries,  but  for  fear  of  exciting  the  suspicions  of  his 
race  carried  on  his  work  independently  of  them.  While 
evangelical  in  his  beliefs  and  thoughts  he  did  not,  to  the 
day  of  his  death,  in  1837,  openly  declare  himself  to  be  an 
evangelical.  But  up  to  that  time  there  had  been  no  break 
with  the  old  Church  and  no  persecution  of  those  who  were 
studying  the  Word  of  God. 

In  all  cases  where  the  word  "  Evangelical  "  is  used  in 
connection  with  the  Armenians,  Greeks  or  Syrians  it  re- 
fers to  those  who  are  recognized  as  regular  readers  of  the 
New  Testament  in  the  vernacular.  The  "  Evangelicals  " 
among  the  Armenians  were  those  who  persisted  in  adhering 
to  their  right  to  read  the  New  Testament  and  to  follow 
its  manifest  teachmgs  even  in  the  face  of  the  disapproval 
of  their  ecclesiastics.  Under  the  fire  of  anathemas  and 
persecution  the  word  came  to  be  applied  to  those  who 
were  cast  out  of  the  Gregorian  Church  because  they  would 
not  discontinue  the  practise.  In  Turkey  the  word  has 
only  its  original  meaning,  derived  from  the  "  Evangel " 
of  Christ. 

In  1833  the  missionaries  at  Constantinople  were  invited 
to  be  present  in  the  Patriarchal  Church  at  the  ordination 
of    fifteen    Armenian    priests,    trained    in    Pashtimaljian's 


11 


161  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


school.  These  men  were  largely  emancipated  from  the 
superstitions  of  the  old  Church  and  alert  to  the  needs  of 
radical  reform.  When  the  break  between  the  Gregorians 
and  the  Evangelicals  actually  took  place,  several  years 
later,  the  leaders  of  the  Protestants  were  for  the  most 
part  men  who  had  received  their  training  under  Pashti- 
maljian,  who  was  always  independent  of  missionary  super- 
vision and  who  was  highly  esteemed  and  honored  by  the 
ecclesiastics  of  the  Gregorian  Church. 

With  all  these  forces  at  work  upon  this  able  and  alert 
people,  advanced  ideas  rapidly  spread  among  all  classes 
at  the  capital,  and  through  constant  intercourse  with  the 
chief  cities  in  the  interior,  aroused  there  also  the  spirit  of 
inquiry.  The  patriarch  at  Constantinople  and  some  of 
the  bishops  in  interior  towns  seemed  in  hearty  accord  with 
the  revival  of  Biblical  study  and  of  true  learning.  The 
missionaries  endeavored  to  have  the  Armenians  themselves 
open  and  conduct  all  the  schools,  and  ventured  themselves 
to  do  anything  of  the  kind  only  when  they  failed  to  get 
the  people  to  act. 

The  steady  progress  of  the  reform  movement  was  hin- 
dered by  great  fires  in  the  city,  by  cholera  and  plague,  and 
by  civil  war.  Even  to  the  present  these  distracting  and 
disintegrating  forces  have  always  been  present  in  some 
parts  of  the  Turkish  fields,  presenting  many  obstacles  to 
continuous  advance. 

The  Roman  Catholics  were  openly  opposed  to  the  cir- 
culation of  the  Bible  among  the  people,  and  used  their 
influence  to  check  the  movement  for  a  revival  of  right- 
eousness and  learning.  By  constant  effort,  even  in  the 
days  of  Pashtimaljian,  they  cast  suspicion  upon  the  move- 
ment into  the  minds  of  some  of  the  leaders  among  the  old 
Church    people.      An    anti-reform    party    was    gradually 

[162] 


LEADERS,    METHODS,    AND    ANATHEMAS 

formed,  led  largely  by  uneducated  ecclesiastics,  who  saw 
that  if  only  educated  men  were  to  be  ordained  to  the  priest- 
hood and  were  to  exercise  a  leading  influence  in  the  Church, 
their  power  would  soon  be  destroyed.  They  succeeded  in 
exalting  to  patriarchal  power  in  1839  an  astute  and 
bigoted  man  from  the  interior  of  the  country.  He  began 
at  once  to  arrest  and  throw  into  prison  some  of  the 
leading  men  in  the  evangelical  movement.  Some  even  were 
banished  into  the  interior  for  the  sole  crime  of  reading 
the  Bible. 

The  Armenian  Evangelical  Union,  a  secret  organiza- 
tion, had  in  1839  some  twenty-two  members.  It  was  an 
organized  company  of  intelligent,  advanced  thinkers,  who 
came  together  to  plan  and  pray  for  the  reformation  of 
their  Church  and  of  the  country,  and  for  Bible  study. 
They  carried  on  secret  correspondence  with  men  of  en- 
lightenment throughout  the  empire.  None  of  them  were 
separated  from  the  Church  nor  did  they  contemplate  such 
a  step  nor  encourage  it  in  others.  They  were  planning 
solely  for  the  salvation  of  the  Gregorian  Church.  These 
unions  were  continued  and  multiplied  in  the  country,  but 
not  as  a  secret  society  after  the  organization  of  the 
Protestant  churches. 

On  the  third  of  March,  1839,  a  patriarchal  bull  was 
issued  by  Hagopos,  adjunct  patriarch,  forbidding  the 
reading  of  all  books  printed  or  circulated  by  the  mission- 
aries, and  all  who  possessed  such  books  were  ordered  to 
deliver  them  up.  A  few  days  later  the  sympathetic  and 
gentle  patriarch  Stepan  was  deposed  and  Hagopos  was 
installed  in  his  place.  Spurred  on  by  the  same  Romanists, 
the  Greek  patriarch  issued  a  similar  bull  to  all  Greeks 
against  the  books  of  the  missionaries.  The  reign  of  terror 
thus  begun  raged  in  the  capital  and  throughout  the  interior 

[  163] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


of  the  country  for  many  years.  April  28th,  1839,  the 
Armenian  patriarch  issued  a  new  bull  threatening  terrible 
anathemas,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost,  against  all  who  should  be  found  communicating 
with  the  missionaries  or  reading  their  books.  Arrests  and 
imprisonments  were  of  constant  occurrence.  The  native 
evangelicals  were  at  their  wits'  end  and  the  missionaries 
could  see  no  way  of  deliverance. 

Most  fortunately  for  them,  at  that  time  the  sultan  was 
at  war  with  Mohammed  Ali  of  Egypt,  and  he  called  upon 
all  the  patriarchs  to  provide  him  with  recruits  for  his 
broken  army.  The  defeat  of  the  sultan,  his  death,  and  the 
succession  of  his  son,  Abdul  Medjid,  with  the  loss  of 
the  Turkish  fleet,  threw  all  into  consternation  and  made 
the  most  violent  bigots  forget  for  the  moment  to  persecute. 
A  fire  in  Pera  which  destroyed  between  three  thousand  and 
four  thousand  Armenian  houses  tended  to  produce  a 
softening  of  heart  against  the  persecuted. 

While  this  condition  of  affairs  prevailed  at  the  capital 
the  mission  was  pushing  its  advanced  posts  into  the  in- 
terior of  the  country  where  considerable  numbers  were 
found  eager  to  procure  copies  of  the  Bible.  Ecclesias- 
tical warnings  sent  from  Constantinople  to  the  Arme- 
nians remote  from  the  capital  were  given  little  heed. 
Violence  had  so  subsided  at  Constantinople  that  the 
evangelical  movement  again  began  to  accumulate  momen- 
tum and  force.  A  boarding-school  for  boys  was  opened 
in  November,  1840,  at  Bebek  upon  the  Bosporus,  some 
five  miles  above  Constantinople.  This  was  under  the  su- 
perintendence of  Cyrus  Hamlin,  against  whom  and  his 
school  all  the  fury  of  the  papists  and  the  Greek  patriarch 
was  directed,  the  Armenian  patriarch  refusing  to  join 
them.     The  demand  for  books  increased.     By  1841  it  was 


164  ] 


LEADERS,    METHODS,    AND    ANATHEMAS 

evident  that  a  great  reform  movement  was  in  progress 
which  was  destined  to  spread  over  the  empire'.  Some  of 
the  leading  persecutors  were  astute  enough  to  see  that  an 
invisible  but  irresistible  force  was  moving  the  Armenian 
nation.  The  spirit  of  reform  swept  over  the  country, 
awakening  intellects,  arousing  consciences,  and  demand- 
ing intellectual  freedom. 

This  continued  for  five  or  six  years,  during  which  time 
there  was  no  separation  of  the  "  Evangelicals,"  as  they 
were  called,  from  the  old  Church.  The  missionaries 
always  urged  them  to  remain,  exerting  their  influence  not 
against  the  Church  but  against  its  abuses  and  super- 
stitions. For  the  most  part  they  attended  public  services 
in  the  old  Church,  and  were  recognized  as  members  in  good 
standing.  The  missionaries  had  no  thought  of  changing 
these  conditions,  had  they  imagined  it  was  in  their  power 
to  do  so.  Hitherto  the  movement  had  been  one  towards 
reform  within  the  Armenian  Church  and  largely  led  by 
Armenians  who  were  themselves  loyal  members.  In  per- 
secuting, the  Church  was  doing  violence  to  its  own. 

In  the  beginning  of  1846  the  patriarch,  alarmed  at  the 
extent  as  well  as  the  power  of  the  reform  movement,  in- 
augurated more  coercive  measures.  On  Sunday  morning, 
January  25,  at  the  close  of  the  regular  service  in  the 
Patriarchal  Church,  darkening  the  house  and  drawing  a 
great  veil  in  front  of  the  main  altar,  a  bull  of  excision  was 
read  against  Priest  Vartanes,  an  evangelical,  and  all  of  the 
followers  of  the  "  modem  sectaries."  Heaping  every  con- 
ceivable epithet  of  condemnation  upon  him  he  was  expelled 
from  the  Church  and  forbidden  as  "  a  devil  and  the  child  of 
the  devil  to  enter  into  the  company  of  believers."  All  the 
faithful  were  forbidden  to  admit  him  into  their  dwcllincrs 

or  to  receive  his  salutation  or  to  look  upon  his  face. 
________ 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


A  wild  spirit  of  fanaticism  reigned.  This  most  thorough 
and  fanatical  persecution  began  to  search  out  the  evan- 
gelicals, who  were  ordered  to  repair  to  the  patriarchate 
and  recant,  or  be  forever  cast  out  from  society,  from  every 
social  privilege,  and  from  the  Church.  On  the  following 
Sabbath,  with  passions  still  more  inflamed,  a  second  ana- 
thema was  read  in  all  the  churches,  accompanied  by  the 
most  violent  denunciations  by  the  patriarch,  the  bishop 
and  the  vartabeds.  All  of  the  evangelicals  were  pro- 
nounced "  accursed,  and  excommunicated,  and  anathema- 
tized by  God,  and  by  all  his  saints,  and  by  Matteos 
Patriarch."  The  patriarch  not  only  cursed  those  who 
were  readers  of  the  Bible  and  believers  in  its  teachings, 
but  grave  malediction  was  hurled  against  all  who  should 
harbor  them  or  communicate  with  them.  Printed  copies 
of  the  last  two  anathemas  were  sent  to  every  part  of 
Turkey  to  be  read  in  all  the  churches.  Even  to  this  point 
the  evangelical  Armenians  had  made  no  move  to  form  a 
community  separate  from  the  old  Church. 

On  the  21st  of  June,  1846,  a  day  of  solemn  festival  in 
the  Church,  the  patriarch  issued  a  new  bull  of  excom- 
munication and  anathema  against  all  who  remained  firm 
to  their  evangelical  principles,  decreeing  that  it  should 
be  publicly  read  at  each  annual  return  of  this  festival  in 
all  the  Armenian  churches  throughout  the  Ottoman  em- 
pire. By  this  act  the  Protestant  or  evangelical  Armenians 
were  completely  cut  off  from  any  lot  or  part  in  the 
Gregorian  Church.  There  was  no  hope  of  their  being 
received  back  again  except  by  their  repudiating  every 
principle  of  reform.     This,  of  course,  they  could  not  do. 

These  excommunicated  brethren  immediately  requested 
help  from  the  missionaries.  A  meeting  was  held  in  Con- 
stantinople, made  up  of  delegates  from  the  different  mis- 


166  ] 


LEADERS,    METHODS,    AND    ANATHEMAS 

sion  stations  in  Turkey,  at  which  Dr.  Pomeroy,  later  one 
of  the  secretaries  of  the  American  Board,  was  present. 
At  that  meeting,  plans  were  drawn  up  for  an  organiza- 
tion among  the  evangelical  Armenians  of  Constantinople. 
Consequently,  on  the  first  day  of  July,  1846,  they  came 
together  and  were  organized  into  the  First  Evangelical 
Armenian  Church.  The  church  numbered  forty  members, 
of  which  thirty-seven  were  men.  One  week  later  an  Ar- 
menian pastor,  a  former  student  in  the  school  of  Pash- 
timaljian,  was  ordained  over  the  church.  A  pamphlet  in 
Armenian  was  issued,  containing  their  confession  of  faith 
and  setting  forth  the  reasons  why,  through  the  compul- 
sory measures  of  the  patriarch,  they  had  been  compelled 
to  organize  themselves  into  a  separate  body. 

During  the  same  summer,  similar  Armenian  churches 
were  formed  in  Nicomedia,  Adabazar  and  Trebizond.  The 
Mohammedans  showed  themselves  sympathetic.  A  Moslem 
judge  before  whom  some  of  the  evangelicals  had  been  haled, 
said,  "  We  cannot  interfere  to  protect  you  from  excom- 
munication, but  so  long  as  you  abide  by  the  declaration 
you  have  made  we  will  protect  you  civilly.  Your  goods 
shall  be  as  our  goods ;  your  houses  as  our  houses ;  and 
your  persons  as  our  persons.     Go  in  peace." 

All  subjects  of  the  Turkish  empire  were  registered  as 
members  of  some  recognized  rehgious  community.  Each 
various  Christian  community  like  the  Armenian,  the  Greek, 
and  the  Roman  Catholic,  had  its  recognized  head  at  the 
Porte  and  through  this  head  individual  rights  were  pro- 
tected. Every  non-Moslem  was  compelled  to  claim  his 
rights  at  the  hand  of  his  religious  political  head.  If  his 
claim  were  there  denied,  he  had  no  redress.  The  Armenian 
patriarch  was  the  recognized  political  superior  of  the  Arme- 
nians.     He  had  violently   excluded   all  evangelicals   from 

[Tin 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


the  Church  and  from  all  their  inherited  rights  as  Arme- 
nians. He  no  longer  recognized  such  as  members  of  his 
race,  and  not  only  refused  to  protect  them  and  secure  for 
them  justice  but  he  devised  methods  to  direct  a  bitter  per- 
secution against  them.  These  excommunicated  "  Protes- 
tants," as  they  were  sometimes  called,  were  the  legal 
possessors  of  no  rights  or  privileges  in  the  empire  that 
any  one  was  bound  to  respect. 

Conditions  became  intolerable,  when  through  the  Inter- 
vention of  the  British  legation  the  grand  vizier  issued  in 
November,  1847,  a  firman  recognizing  the  separate  Prot- 
estant community  with  all  the  rights  and  privileges  be- 
longing to  others  in  the  empire,  and  declaring  that  "  no 
interference  whatever  shall  be  permitted  in  their  temporal 
and  spiritual  concerns  on  the  part  of  the  patriarch,  monks, 
or  priests  of  other  sects."  This  firman  protected  the  evan- 
gelical Greeks  and  Jews  as  well  as  the  Armenians.  As  this 
charter  was  only  ministerial  in  its  scope  and  authority,  in 
1850  a  new  charter  was  granted  the  Protestants  by  Sultan 
Abdul  Medjid,  "completing  and  confirming  their  distinct 
organization   as  a  civil  community,  etc." 

This  phase  of  mission  work  in  Turkey  has  been  dwelt 
upon  at  length  in  order  to  correct  the  impression  which 
prevails  in  many  quarters  that  the  missionaries  in  Turkey 
aimed  to  divide  the  old  Churches  there  and  to  separate 
out  therefrom  a  body  of  Protestants.  History  makes  it 
clear  that  every  effort  was  made  to  prevent  separation,  and 
only  after  this  had  taken  place,  by  the  repeated  and  official 
action  of  the  highest  ecclesiastical  authority,  were  any 
steps  taken  to  organize  a  separate  community,  and  even 
then  this  was  done  primarily  to  secure  protection  for  the 
excommunicated  Christians. 


168  ] 


RESULTS 


I  HAVE  had  occasion  to  revert  to  the  work  of  the  accomplished  and  devoted 
band  of  American  missionaries  and  teachers  settled  in  these  districts.  In  a 
thousand  ways  they  are  raising  the  standard  of  morahty,  of  intelhgence,  of 
education,  of  material  well-being,  of  industrial  enterprise.  Directly  or  in- 
directly every  phase  of  their  work  is  rapidly  paving  the  way  for  American 
commerce.  Special  stress  should  be  laid  upon  the  remarkable  work  of  the 
physicians,  ordained  or  unordained,  who  are  attached  to  the  various  stations. 
They  form  a  steadily  growing  network,  dotting  the  map  of  Asia  Minor  at 
Ceesarea,  Marsovan,  Sivas,  Adana,  Aintab,  Mardin,  Harpoot,  Bitlis,  and 
Van.  At  most  of  these  points  well-equipped  hospitals  are  in  active  operation. 
From  the  very  nature  of  their  occupation  they  come  more  easily  and  rapidly 
into  touch  with  the  Turkish  population  and  quickly  gain  their  confidence. 

Taking  all  in  all,  I  regard  the  results  following  the  foundation  of  this  in- 
stitution (Euplu"ates  College)  as  among  the  most  important  and  noteworthy 
secured  by  American  effort  in  foreign  lands.  The  whole  work  appeals  most 
strongly  to  one  whose  chief  duty  is  to  aid  and  further  the  entrance  of  American 
wares  in  this  land.  I  know  of  no  import  better  adapted  to  secure  the  future 
commercial  supremacy  of  the  United  States  in  this  land  of  such  wonderful 
potential  possibilities  than  the  introduction  of  American  teachers,  of  American 
educational  appliances  and  books  of  American  methods  and  ideas.  —  Prof. 
Thomas  H.  Nobton,  Ph,  D.,  United  States  Consul  at  Harpoot  and  Smyrna, 
Turkey. 


XVI.    RESULTS 

WHILE  these  troublous  scenes  were  being  enacted, 
the  missionaries  were  engaged  in  preparing  and 
sending  out  evangehcal  Christian  literature  in 
the  form  of  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular  Armenian,  Ar- 
meno-Turkish  and  Greek  languages,  and  by  fostering  edu- 
cational operations.  As  early  as  1836  a  school  for 
Armenian  girls  was  opened  in  Smyrna.  A  boarding-school 
for  Armenian  boys  opened  in  Bebek  in  1840  was  so  prom- 
ising that  in  1843-44  Secretary  Anderson,  upon  a  visit 
to  Constantinople,  recommended  that  this  institution  be 
strengthened.  At  that  time  it  was  decided  to  discontinue 
the  special  work  to  the  Greeks  and  to  open  a  high  school 
for  girls  at  the  capital.  The  purpose  of  the  seminary 
at  Bebek  was  to  train  able  and  devout  young  men  for  the 
gospel  ministry,  that  the  newly  organized  churches  might 
have  proper  leaders.  In  1848  the  seminary  contained 
forty-seven  students. 

In  1847  some  Christian  literature  found  its  way  into 
Aintab  in  northern  Syria.  During  that  year  and  the 
next,  missionary  visits  were  made  to  the  place.  In  1849 
Mr.  Schneider  took  up  his  residence  there,  and  Aintab 
became  a  regular  mission  station.  In  the  midst  of  per- 
secution the  work  spread  with  great  rapidity.  Preachers 
and  colporters  were  forbidden  by  the  Armenian  primates 
to  visit  the  neighboring  towns,  so  evangelical  tradesmen 
began  a  systematic  visitation  to  outside  places,  plying 
their  trade  and  preaching  the  gospel.  The  spirit  of  in- 
telligent faith  and  religious  liberty  spread  in  all  direc- 
tions until  the  entire  region  was  affected.     In   1861   the 

[yn~] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


church  in  Aintab  had  nearly  three  hundred  members  and 
the  Sabbath  congregation  often  numbered  more  than  one 
thousand  souls.  The  Sabbath-school  then  had  nearly  two 
thousand  members.  In  1855  Marash  was  occupied  as  a 
mission  station,  and  these  two  places  have  since  been  the 
two  central  stations  of  that  mission. 

For  nearly  a  generation  after  the  separation  of  the 
Protestants  took  place  there  was  more  or  less  hostile  feel- 
ing between  the  two  bodies,  although  the  number  of  the 
evangelicals  rapidly  increased.  The  spirit  of  inquiry  was 
abroad  among  the  Armenians  and  nothing  could  satisfy 
it  but  the  truth.  Travelers  into  the  interior  and  visitors 
to  Constantinople  from  the  interior  carried  this  spirit 
into  the  most  remote  sections  of  the  country.  The  anath- 
emas which  had  been  communicated  to  the  churches  of 
the  inland  towns  and  cities  had  stirred  up  many  ques- 
tions and  aroused  alert  minds  to  seek  the  cause.  On  the 
whole,  the  evangelical  movement  was  most  materially 
helped  by  these  rude  and  bungling  endeavors  to  suppress 
it  by  brute  force.  Wherever  missionaries  went  they  were 
met  by  a  group  of  men,  naturally  among  the  most  en- 
lightened in  all  the  community,  who  sought  aid  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  who  were  eager  to 
receive  literature  explaining  evangelical  truth. 

Mission  stations  all  over  the  country  rapidly  multiplied, 
and  the  number  of  Protestant  churches  increased.  In 
1860  forty  Protestant  churches  had  been  organized, 
mostly  among  the  Armenians,  and  twenty-two  stations  at 
which  missionaries  resided  were  in  full  operation.  At 
nearly  all  of  these  stations,  schools  for  boys  and,  in  cases 
not  a  few,  schools  for  girls,  had  been  opened  and  these 
were  well  patronized.  The  printing-press  was  moved  from 
Malta  to  Smyrna  in  1833.     The  press  always  has  been 

[ml 


RESULTS 


and  is  still  one  of  the  most  active  and  effectual  agents  for 
reform  in  the  empire.  During  the  first  forty  years  of 
the  work,  from  five  to  ten  million  pages  of  Christian 
literature  were  issued  from  the  press  each  year,  in  five 
different  languages. 

In  no  part  of  the  Turkish  empire  has  the  work  of  the 
missionary  been  more  difficult  than  in  Syria.  Owing  to 
papal  supremacy  there,  which  called  to  its  service  both 
Turkish  and  French  political  aid  in  its  endeavor  to  thwart 
the  missionaries  and  the  evangelicals,  no  separate  church 
of  native  Christians  was  organized  until  1848  at  Beirut, 
two  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Evangelical  Armenian 
Church  at  Constantinople.  There  was  in  that  field  no 
intellectually  and  morally  dominant  race  to  receive  and 
extend  the  gospel  as  there  was  in  Asia  Minor  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  Turkish  empire,  while  the  races  occu- 
pying Syria  were  for  the  most  part  hostile  to  each  other 
and  always  mutually   suspicious. 

In  1858  direct  work  for  the  Bulgarians  was  begun  by 
opening  a  station  at  Adrianople,  which  was  followed  by 
a  station  at  Philippopolis  and  Eski-Zagra  within  the  next 
two  years.  The  Bulgarians  were  longing  for  political 
freedom  and  welcomed  the  missionaries  with  their  new 
literature  and  education  as  calculated  to  strengthen  them 
as  a  nation.  For  fourteen  years  the  work  among  the  Bul- 
garians was  considered  a  part  of  the  Armenian  mission. 
In  1872  the  European  work  was  set  off  by  itself  as  the 
European  Turkey  mission,  which  is  almost  exclusively  for 
the  Bulgarians.  The  condition  of  the  old  Bulgarian 
Church  was  similar  to  the  Armenian  Church,  so  far  as  need 
of  reform  was  concerned. 

The  churches  which  were  organized  in  1846,  among 
those  cast  out  from  the  old  Gregorian  Church,  were  se- 


[173] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


verely  plain  and  simple  in  their  form  and  ritual,  as  well 
as  in  their  articles  of  faith.  In  the  reaction  from  the 
rigid  ritualism  of  the  Church  from  which  they  had  been 
driven,  these  evangelical  Christians  went  to  the  other  ex- 
treme, putting  the  emphasis  of  the  service  upon  the  sermon. 
Prevaihng  conditions  demanded  direct  positive  instruc- 
tion in  Christian  living  rather  than  new  forms  of  worship. 
Had  these  people  not  been  rudely  excommunicated  from 
the  Church  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  would  have  clung 
fondly  to  much  if  not  all  of  the  rich  service  of  the  old 
Church.  Much  place  was  also  given  to  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  in  the  modem  spoken  language  of  the 
people  and  to  congregational  singing.  The  people  were 
so  eager  for  the  sermon,  and  especially  in  the  expository 
form,  that  large  numbers  who  repudiated  the  name  of 
evangelical,  and  who  were  among  the  persecutors  of  the 
Protestants  began  to  demand  that  the  priests  of  the  old 
Church  also  expound  the  Scriptures.  Few  of  them  were 
able  to  accomplish  this  with  any  degree  of  success.  Dr. 
Goodell  published  a  volume  of  sermons  in  Armenian  which 
were  eagerly  bought  by  the  priests  and  preached  by  them 
to  their  people.  Although  the  evangelicals  had  been  vio- 
lently thrust  out  of  the  Church,  the  spirit  of  reform  in 
considerable  measure  remained. 

During  the  first  bitter  years,  when  feelings  were  stirred 
up  and  controversy  was  rife,  there  was  a  wide  breach  be- 
tween the  Gregorian  and  Protestant  Churches.  After  dis- 
cussions all  over  the  country,  extending  to  nearly  every 
village  of  importance,  had  settled  the  question  that  the 
modern  version  of  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular  was  the  un- 
questioned Word  of  God,  there  was  actually  no  ground  for 
continued  separate  existence.  All  Armenians  accepted 
the  modern  Scriptures  as  the  revelation  of  God  to  men 


174  ] 


RESULTS 


and  an  infallible  guide  to  faith  and  practise.  Neither 
did  they  have  any  scruples  against  the  Bible  being  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  people.  Hence,  as  one  might  expect, 
the  breach  between  the  old  and  the  new  began  gradually 
to  heal.  The  spirit  of  bitterness,  little  by  little,  passed 
away  until  now  it  does  not  exist  upon  the  old  grounds 
which  led  to  the  separation. 

In  many  places  the  Protestant  pastors  are  now  asked 
to  speak  in  the  old  churches,  and  the  children  of  both 
Gregorian  and  Protestant  parents  meet  in  the  same  Chris- 
tian schools  and  upon  exactly  the  same  footing.  In  the 
theological  seminaries  of  the  missions  there  have  been 
and  now  are  students  who  are  not  Protestants  and  who 
are  preparing  for  ordination  as  priests  in  the  old  Church. 
Many  ecclesiastics  of  the  Gregorian  Church  received  the 
major  part  of  their  training  for  that  service  in  the  mission 
schools.  During  the  last  twenty  years  there  has  been 
little  separation  from  the  old  Church.  The  missionaries 
have  generally  exerted  their  influence  against  it.  Some 
Gregorians  have  tried  to  keep  the  controversy  alive  by 
claiming  that  the  Protestants  are  not  loyal  to  the  race, 
but  that  charge  has  been  so  fully  proven  untrue  that 
it  is  now  little  used. 

In  no  instance  have  the  missionaries  for  any  length  of 
time  been  the  pastors  of  the  native  churches.  At  the 
first  the  policy  was  clearly  settled  that  the  only  true  and 
effective  pastor  of  an  Armenian  church  is  an  Armenian. 
The  missionaries  preach,  and  they  have  always  been  preach- 
ers, and  some  of  them  of  great  power,  but  this  is  quite 
different  from  being  the  settled  pastor  of  a  church.  The 
rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  evangelical  churches,  each 
one  of  which  demanded  its  own  native  pastor,  compelled 
the  missionaries  to  redouble  their  efforts  to  raise  up  and 

f  175  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


train  an  adequate  number  of  worthy  young  men  for  these 
high  offices.  The  seminary  at  Bebek  produced  men  who 
have  left  the  stamp  of  their  piety,  earnestness  and  ability 
upon  the  reform  movement  in  Turkey.  Some  of  these 
men  came  from  the  far  interior  of  the  country,  and  re- 
turning became  the  leaders  in  the  new  movement. 

Tliis  seminary  was  ultimately  moved  to  Marsovan,  while 
other  similar  institutions  sprang  up  at  Marash  and  at 
Harpoot,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  country.  A  similar 
training-school  became  necessary  also  at  Mardin,  where  the 
spoken  language  is  Arabic,  while  in  Beirut,  Syria,  a  large 
training-school  flourished.  A  whole  educational  system 
grew  up  out  of  the  necessities  of  the  work.  This  will  be 
considered  later  when  discussing  the  work  of  education  in 
the  empire. 

The  evangelical  Churches  were  not  denominational  in 
any  ordinary  sense  of  that  word.  Their  creed  was  the 
Bible  in  the  language  of  the  people  and  this  was  taken  as 
the  guide  of  their  life.  While  the  missionaries,  because  of 
their  superior  knowledge  and  experience  in  such  matters, 
were  constantly  sought  for  advice,  they  did  not  exercise 
ecclesiastical  control.  These  Churches  were  early  advised 
to  form  themselves  into  Associations  or  Unions,  as  they 
were  more  generally  called,  for  the  purpose  of  mutual 
help.  One  such  union  was  formed  in  the  vicinity  of  Con- 
stantinople, and  later  one  in  Aintab  and  vicinity  and  at 
Harpoot  and  elsewhere.  In  these  organizations  mission- 
aries could  be  only  honorary  members  without  a  vote. 
They  were  composed  of  pastors  and  delegates  from  the 
churches,  and  held  an  annual  meeting,  with  m.ore  frequent 
meetings  of  standing  committees  with  varying  functions. 
In  some  parts  of  the  country  these  unions  ordain  to  the 
gospel  ministry  and  examine  worthy  candidates  and  grant 

[  176  1 


RESULTS 


them  licenses  to  preach.  It  is  not  a  Congregational  sys- 
tem, neither  is  it  Presbyterian,  but  it  has  worked  well  in 
developing  native  talent  and  directing  it  into  right  chan- 
nels of  action. 

The  development  and  strength  in  the  evangelistic  work 
in  Turkey  is  due  perhaps  more  to  the  leadership  of  a  few 
individuals  who  seem  to  have  been  sent  into  the  empire  at 
a  time  most  opportune.  Dr.  William  Goodell,  the  first 
missionary  of  the  Board  to  Constantinople,  lived  and 
labored  there  for  forty-three  years,  or  until  1865.  With 
rare  wisdom,  patience  and  firmness  did  he  direct  the  work 
through  the  period  of  fiery  persecution  and  of  organiza- 
tion of  the  Church  and  the  Protestant  community.  Men 
are  now  there  in  the  work,  both  missionaries  and  others, 
who  were  colaborers  with  him  and  who  have  helped  to 
carry  out  the  wise  measures  devised  by  him  for  the  true 
reform  of  that  people.  Time  would  fail  us  to  speak  of 
Schneider,  Dwight,  Thompson  and  Riggs,  of  Post  and 
the  Blisses,  of  Wheeler,  Farnsworth  and  a  great  multitude 
besides  who  gave  their  lives  to  build  in  the  Turkish  em- 
pire the  pure,  intelligent  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  equally  faithful  and  able  company  who  are 
still  there  among  perils  and  difficulties  not  less  severe,  but 
who  know  they  are  doing  the  Lord's  work,  and  that  they 
are  in  the  place  where  he  has  called  them. 

At  the  present  time  the  nearly  two  hundred  evangelical 
Protestant  churches  in  the  empire,  with  some  twenty 
thousand  church-members,  do  not  begin  to  tell  the  tale  of 
what  has  been  accomplished.  The  story  is  written  in  the 
awakened  intellect  of  all  classes  and  races,  in  new  concep- 
tions of  what  Christianity  demands  of  its  followers,  and  in 
a  changed  atmosphere  affecting  the  hfe  and  character  of 
nearly  all  the  youth  born  in  the  last  generation,  and  is 


12  [  177  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


destined  to  affect  the  empire  still  more  vitally  as  the  years 
go  on.  The  seed  of  intelligent  belief  and  of  right  liv- 
ing has  been  sown  and  it  is  finding  soil  in  which  to  ger- 
minate. The  fruit  thereof  shall  be  for  the  healing  of  the 
nation. 


[178] 


INTELLECTUAL  RENAISSANCE 


Education  has  accomplished  more  toward  the  regeneration  of  these  lands 
than  anything  else.  While  it  has  been  very  broad,  especially  in  the  higher  in- 
stitutions, it  has  likewise  been  thoroughly  permeated  with  Christianity. 
Though  Robert  College  is  not  directly  connected  with  any  missionary  society 
it  "has  exerted  an  incalculable  influence  for  Christian  life  all  over  the  empire. 
Among  its  graduates  are  many  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  Bulgaria,  and 
it  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  nation  really  owes  its  existence  to 
the  influence  exerted  by  President  George  Washburn  and  his  associates. 
Its  students  have  included  representatives  of  twenty  nationalities,  and  its 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  unique  among  the  college  associations 
of  the  world  in  that  it  is  divided  into  four  departments  according  to  the 
prevailing  language  spoken,  —  Enghsh,  Greek,  Armenian  and  Bulgarian." 
The  Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beirut  is  likewise  independent,  though  in 
closest  sympathy  and  cooperation  with  the  Presbyterian  Board,  North. 
Concerning  the  college,  Mr.  John  R.  Mott  writes:  "This  is  one  of  the  three 
most  important  institutions  in  all  Asia.  In  fact  there  is  no  college  which  has 
within  one  generation  accomplished  a  greater  work  and  which  to-day  has  a 
larger  opportunity.  It  has  practically  created  the  medical  profession  of  the 
Levant.  It  has  been  the  most  influential  factor  of  the  East.  It  has  been  and 
is  the  center  for  genuine  Christian  and  scientific  literature  in  all  that  region. 
Fully  one-fourth  of  the  graduates  of  the  collegiate  department  have  entered 
Christian  work  either  as  preachers  or  as  teachers  in  Christian  schools."  In 
less  degree  the  same  results  noted  in  the  case  of  these  two  institutions  are 
furnished  by  the  records  of  the  American  Board's  colleges  at  Aintab,  Harpoot, 
Samakov,  Marsovan,  and  of  its  colleges  for  girls  at  Marash  and  Constanti- 
nople, as  well  as  of  the  less  ambitious  Bishop  Gobat  School  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  and  the  Beirut  Female  Seminary  of  the  Presbyterians. — 
Prof.  Harlan  P.  Beach,  F.R.G.S.  etc.,  in  "Geography  and  Atlas  of 
Protestant  Missions." 


XVII.    INTELLECTUAL  RENAISSANCE 

IT  has  already  been  stated  that  in  1820  throughout 
the  Turkish  empire  there  was  practically  no  modem 
education.  The  few  schools  which  did  exist  were 
almost  entirely  ecclesiastical,  maintained  for  the  purpose  of 
teaching  a  few  men  to  conduct  rehgious  services.  This  was 
largely  true  of  all  schools,  whether  Armenian,  Greek,  or 
Turkish.  Nowhere  in  the  country  were  there  schools  for 
girls,  the  idea  prevailing  generally  that  girls  could  not 
learn  to  read,  even  if  they  were  worth  educating.  The 
great  mass  of  the  people  were  unable  either  to  read  or 
to  write.  Ignorance  even  in  the  capital  was  dense,  but  it 
was  much  greater  in  the  interior  cities  and  towns.  Often 
a  large  group  of  villages  possessed  not  one  person  who 
could  write  or  read  a  letter. 

Argument  is  not  required  to  show  that  no  real  reform 
could  be  introduced  into  the  country  without  inaugurating 
some  system  of  education.  There  must  be  produced  readers 
and  a  literature  if  the  intellectual  and  moral  life  of  the 
people  was  to  be  raised.  If  the  old  Gregorian  Church  was 
to  become  enlightened  in  its  belief  and  practise,  there  must 
be  educated  leaders  as  well  as  an  intelligent  laity.  For 
this  reason  the  missionaries  began  with  an  effort  to 
awaken  the  intellects  of  the  people.  The  Lancasterian 
schools  that  were  so  popular  for  a  period  in  the  capital  had 
their  value  and  exerted  a  good  influence.  The  school  of 
Pashtimaljian  sprang  from  the  aroused  desire  of  the  people 
for  education  and  the  conviction  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Church  that  only  educated  leaders  could  be  wisely  trusted 
and   followed.      There  were  other   schools  supported   and 

[  1811 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


directed  by  the  Armenians  themselves,  but  springing 
largely  from  the  persistent  effort  of  the  missionaries. 
Until  1839  it  was  hoped  that  all  the  work  of  modern 
education  among  the  Armenians  would  be  carried  on  by 
the  Armenians  themselves,  so  that  the  missionaries  need 
not  open  schools  of  any  kind. 

As  the  zealous  ecclesiastics  became  more  and  more  sus- 
picious, restrictive  measures  were  applied.  It  was  observed 
that  those  who  studied  in  the  schools  were  among  the 
leaders  seeking  to  reform  the  errors  which  were  destroy- 
ing the  spiritual  influence  of  the  Church.  It  soon  became 
evident  to  the  missionaries  that  they  must  take  a  direct  part 
in  the  work  of  education.  In  1840  Bebek  Seminary  for 
training  the  young  men  was  opened.  The  head  of  this 
school  was  Cyrus  Hamlin,  who  the  year  before  had  arrived 
at  Constantinople,  designated  to  this  work.  He  was  a  man 
of  rare  qualifications  for  the  task  assigned  him,  knowing  no 
fear,  never  disheartened  in  the  face  of  insuperable  obstacles, 
of  tireless  industry,  practical  wisdom  and  unbounded  re- 
sourcefulness and  devotion  to  the  cause  to  which  he  had 
given  his  life. 

The  seminary  at  Bebek  was  begun  just  as  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  evangelicals  at  the  capital  was  becoming  acute. 
Early  in  his  career  Dr.  Hamlin  was  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  the  school  must  succeed  in  the  face  of  direct  op- 
position from  Russia.  During  his  first  year  in  the  mis- 
sion, while  he  was  learning  the  Armenian  language,  his 
teacher  was  suddenly  seized  at  the  order  of  the  Russian 
ambassador  and  deported  to  Siberia.  Dr.  Hamlin  and 
Dr.  Schauffler  repaired  to  the  Russian  embassy  and  pro- 
tested against  the  high-handed  proceeding.  The  ambas- 
sador haughtily  replied,  "  My  master,  the  emperor  of 
Russia,  will  never  allow  Protestantism  to  set  Its  foot  in 

[  182  1 


INTELLECTUAL    RENAISSANCE 


Turkey."  Dr.  Schauffler,  bowing  low  to  the  ambassador, 
gave  the  reply  which  has  become  historic,  "  Your  excel- 
lency, the  kingdom  of  Christ,  who  is  my  Master,  will  never 
ask  the  emperor  of  all  the  Russias  where  it  may  set  its 
foot."  From  that  day  to  this,  the  covert  as  well  as  open 
opposition  of  Russia  to  missionary  work  in  Turkey  and, 
most  especially,  to  all  educational  work,  has  been  unre- 
mittingly experienced.  Consistently  has  Russia  adhered 
to  the  policy  thus  outlined  and  the  opposition  from  that 
source  to-day  is  as  bitter  as  at  any  other  period. 

Dr.  Hamlin  threw  himself  into  the  work  of  the  seminary 
with  all  his  intense  and  resourceful  energy.  Thwarted  at 
a  hundred  points,  he  immediately  changed  his  plans  and 
appeared  even  to  his  persecutors  to  have  gained  the  vic- 
tory. For  twenty  years  the  work  proceeded  with  emphasis 
upon  industries  when  industrial  persecutions  were  crush- 
ing the  people,  but  always  strenuous,  and  always  supremely 
Christian  and  evangelical.  He  saw  that  a  vernacular  train- 
ing was  not  sufficient  for  the  full  equipment  of  the  young 
men  under  his  care  to  prepare  them  for  positions  of  largest 
leadership.  The  Jesuit  schools  taught  their  pupils  French 
so  that  all  their  graduates  knew  a  European  language. 
As  yet  the  Armenian  literature  was  very  circumscribed  and 
most  inadequate  to  meet  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  re- 
quirements of  intelligent  directors  of  a  great  national 
reform  movement. 

This  was  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Hamlin,  shared,  as  he  felt, 
by  the  great  mass  of  the  Armenian  people.  But  he  was 
not  fully  sustained  in  it  by  his  colleagues  in  the  mission. 
The  American  Board,  under  the  leadership  of  its  secre- 
tary, Dr.  Anderson,  had  declared  as  its  policy  that  mis- 
sion schools  should  not  teach  English  or  any  other 
language   than   the  vernacular  to   their   pupils.      To  Dr. 


183  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Hamlin  this  seemed  such  a  backward  step  that  he  resigned 
from  the  Board  and  began  to  work  and  plan  for  higher 
education  among  young  men.  The  story  of  the  building 
of  the  now  famous  Robert  College  under  an  imperial  irade 
from  the  sultan,  and  upon  the  most  commanding  site 
along  the  entire  length  of  the  Bosporus,  is  now  so  well 
known  that  it  need  not  be  repeated. 

The  college  became  a  reality  and  the  scheme  of  education 
conceived  by  Dr.  Hamlin  and  carried  out  in  Robert  Col- 
lege represented,  within  forty  years  of  the  time  of  his 
resignation  from  the  Board,  the  fundamental  policy  of 
all  the  higher  educational  work  in  the  empire  carried  on 
in  both  missionary  and  independent  institutions.  For 
nearly  a  generation,  however,  in  mission  schools  little  was 
done  in  European  languages,  and  most  of  the  education 
given  was  imparted  through  the  spoken  language  of  the 
people. 

As  early  as  1836,  four  years  before  the  seminary  at 
Bebek  was  begun,  a  high  school  was  opened  in  Beirut  in 
which  both  Arabic  and  English  were  taught.  This  school 
was  apparently  a  great  success,  but  four  years  later  the 
pupils,  because  of  their  practical  knowledge  of  English, 
became  so  useful  to  the  English  officers,  then  quartered  in 
Beirut  on  account  of  political  troubles,  that  the  school 
was  broken  up.  No  doubt  this  unfortunate  experience  had 
much  influence  in  leading  the  Board  to  endeavor  to  ex- 
clude English  from  mission  schools.  In  1848,  a  seminary 
upon  the  purely  vernacular  basis  was  opened  in  Beirut 
with  a  view  to  training  its  students  for  useful  service 
among  their  own  people.  This  school  was  continued  until 
the  change  in  policy  by  the  Board  and  the  mission,  when 
the  English  language  again  took  its  place  in  the 
curriculum. 


[184] 


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ROBERT  COLLEGE,  CONSTANTINOPLE 


SYRLVN  PROTESTANT  COLLEGE,  BEIRUT,  SYRIA 


INTELLECTUAL    RENAISSANCE 


Whatever  differences  of  opinion  existed  as  to  the  place 
of  Enghsh  in  the  educational  system  of  Turkey,  there 
was  practical  unanimity  in  the  belief  that  reform  in  the 
empire  demanded  the  creation  and  maintenance  of  a  sys- 
tem of  schools  which  should  include  all  grades,  beginning 
with  the  primary.  It  was  necessary  to  begin  with  the 
most  rudimentary  teaching  before  higher  institutions  could 
be  sustained.  The  seminaries  already  referred  to  were  not 
by  any  means  colleges.  They  taught  many  studies  of  the 
lowest  grades.  As  most  of  the  pupils  were  mature  in 
years,  they  made  speedy  progress  and  often  astonished 
their  teachers  by  their  rapid  advancement  and  clear  grasp 
of  abstruse  subjects. 

At  every  station  where  missionaries  settled,  schools 
sprang  up  and  were  at  once  widely  patronized.  In  the 
large  centers  like  Erzerum,  Harpoot,  Aintab  and  Mar- 
sovan,  where  the  people  were  unusually  intelligent  and 
eager  for  an  education,  there  was  marked  development  and 
a  rapid  rise  in  the  grade  of  the  central  schools.  Colleges 
were  not  then  developed,  for  there  were  no  natives  quah- 
fied  to  teach  the  studies  of  college  grade,  while  there 
were  no  preparatory  schools  fitted  to  train  students  for 
college  work.  At  that  time  the  country  itself  was  not  in 
a  condition  to  demand  a  college  education.  In  the  mean- 
time Robert  College  was  taking  the  lead  in  the  higher  edu- 
cation of  men,  although  its  work  was  then  far  inferior  to 
the  courses  it  now  offers.  Educators  throughout  the  em- 
pire were  closely  watching  the  new  institution  upon  the 
Bosporus,  which  became  the  pioneer  and  leader  for  the 
entire  country. 

When  Dr.  Hamlin  was  in  the  midst  of  his  efforts  to 
organize  and  construct  a  college  for  Turkey,  the  Rev. 
Crosby  H.  Wheeler,  also   from   the   state  of  Maine,  was 


[185] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


sent  into  Eastern  Turkey  as  a  missionary,  and  with  desig- 
nation to  Harpoot.  Dr.  Wheeler,  with  energy  similar  to 
that  of  his  fellow  laborer,  stopped  upon  his  way  at 
Constantinople  and  became  acquainted  with  the  educa- 
tional work  there  developing.  He  took  direct  issue  with 
Dr.  Hamhn  upon  the  subject  of  the  value  of  English,  but 
agreed  with  him  upon  the  place  of  education  in  the  work 
of  reform.  Some  years  later,  when  the  educational  work 
at  Harpoot  was  well  established,  Dr.  Wheeler  felt  so 
keenly  upon  this  subject  that  he  gave  public  notice  in  the 
seminary,  of  which  he  was  the  principal,  that  any  student 
who  was  known  to  be  studying  English,  even  by  himself 
or  by  the  aid  of  one  or  two  resident  Armenians  who  had 
studied  at  Constantinople  under  Dr.  Hamlin,  would  be 
summarily  expelled  from  the  school. 

Dr.  Wheeler,  with  his  keen  vision  and  unconquerable 
energy,  while  an  evangelistic  missionary  of  unusual  power, 
became  the  pioneer  of  education  at  Harpoot.  Under  his 
leadership,  strongly  seconded  by  Rev.  Dr.  H.  N.  Barnum, 
the  seminary  for  young  men  at  that  place  rapidly  devel- 
oped until  in  1878  it  was  merged  into  Armenia  College, 
afterwards  changed  to  Euphrates  College.  It  did  not  re- 
quire many  years  for  Dr.  Wheeler  to  see  that  no  broad 
education  could  be  given  in  Turkey  without  the  use  of  the 
English  language,  so  that  he  became  one  of  the  most  ener- 
getic and  enthusiastic  supporters  of  an  English  education 
for  all  students  in  the  higher  institutions  of  learning  in 
the  country.  The  other  high  schools  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Turkey  became  preparatory  schools  for  the  college, 
which  was  heartily  endorsed  by  the  people  themselves,  as 
appears  from  the  wide  patronage  it  received. 

The  same  process  of  growth  that  has  been  noted  at 
Harpoot  took  place  also  at  Aintab,  which  is  distant  some 

\  186] 


INTELLECTUAL    RENAISSANCE 


eight  days'  journey  from  Harpoot,  upon  the  south  side  of 
the  Taurus  Mountains.  In  the  meantime,  the  educational 
work  at  Beirut  had  made  rapid  strides,  developing  into  a 
college  which  later  became  the  largest  and  most  influential 
educational  institution  in  Syria  and  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant in  the  Levant.  This  school  early  in  its  growth 
became  detached  from  the  mission  Board  and  came  under 
the  control  of  a  separate  Board  of  Trustees  in  New  York, 
and  assumed  the  name  of  the  Syrian  Protestant  College. 

Space  will  not  permit  the  mention  in  detail  of  Anatolia 
College  at  Marsovan,  St.  Paul's  Institute  at  Tarsus,  and 
the  International  College  at  Smyrna.  The  last  two  named 
are  of  comparatively  recent  elevation  to  the  grade  of  col- 
lege, while  the  former  has  had  a  record  of  college  work  of 
a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  school  for  the  Bulgarians 
was  established  at  Samakov,  which  is  now  in  Bulgaria.  It 
is  called  the  Collegiate  and  Theological  Institute,  and  is 
calculated  to  do  for  the  young  men  of  Bulgaria  and  Mace- 
donia what  these  other  institutions  are  doing  for  Asiatic 
Turkey. 

The  Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beirut  was  begun  as 
an  institution  of  higher  learning  in  1866  by  Rev.  Daniel 
BHss.  What  Dr.  Hamlin  was  to  Robert  College  and  Dr. 
Wheeler  to  Euphrates  College,  and  Dr.  Tracy  to  Ana- 
tolia College,  Dr.  Bliss  has  been  to  this  college  in  Syria. 
To-day  with  a  campus  of  over  forty  acres,  with  five  de- 
partments including  medicine,  pharmacy  and  a  commer- 
cial course,  and  some  seven  hundred  students  in  attendance 
from  not  less  than  fourteen  nationahties,  including  Druses, 
Jews  and  Moslems,  drawn  from  all  parts  of  the  Levant, 
from  Persia  and  the  Sudan,  this  college  stands  among  the 
first  in  the  empire  for  equipment  and  influence. 

Educational   work    for   girls   started   more    slowly   and 

[  187  1 


DAYBIIEAK    IN    TURKEY 


did  not  make  such  rapid  progress  as  the  work  among 
young  men.  There  was  not  at  the  beginning  a  manifest 
demand  for  the  education  of  girls.  Among  all  classes  in 
the  country  was  an  inherent  prejudice  against  the  intel- 
lectual or  social  advancement  of  women.  Intelligent  men, 
not  a  few,  were  ready  to  argue  that  girls  were  incapable 
of  learning  to  read,  much  less  of  acquiring  a  general  ed- 
ucation. It  became  necessary,  therefore,  to  educate  the 
men  up  to  the  idea  that  girls  could  learn  and  that  it  was 
worth  while  to  educate  them.  In  1836  a  school  for  girls 
was  opened  by  the  missionaries  at  Smyrna,  then  the  most 
enlightened  and  advanced  city  in  the  empire.  This  passed 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  mission  very  quickly,  being  taken 
over  with  its  forty  pupils  by  the  Armenian  community. 
It  was  soon  disbanded.  In  Constantinople,  while  no  regu- 
lar school  had  been  opened  for  girls,  a  few  of  the  most  en- 
hghtened  parents  were  providing  instruction  for  their 
daughters  by  engaging  as  teacher  for  them  one  of  the 
evangelical  Armenians. 

Under  the  impulse  of  the  reform  movement  it  was  im- 
possible to  keep  out  schools  for  girls.  These  multiplied 
in  the  large  cities  first  and  then  extended  into  the  interior 
until  they  became  almost  as  popular  as  the  schools  for 
young  men.  The  Mission  School  for  girls  in  Constanti- 
nople became  the  foremost  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  em- 
pire. After  passing  through  several  changes,  all  in  the  line 
of  progress,  it  became,  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  the  Amer- 
ican College  for  Girls  in  Constantinople.  It  is  to-day 
the  most  advanced  school  for  the  education  of  women  in 
the  Levant.  Euphrates  College  at  Harpoot  has  also  a 
female  department,  while  in  Central  Turkey  at  Marash 
there  is  now  a  collegiate  school  for  young  women  as  well 
as  a  similar  institution  at  Smyrna.      These  schools,  for 

[  188] 


INTELLECTUAL    RENAISSANCE 


both  boys  and  girls,  are  overcrowded  with  students  and 
have  been  from  the  beginning.  It  has  been  impossible  to 
keep  pace  by  enlargement  with  the  increasing  desire  on 
the  part  of  the  people  for  the  education  of  their  children. 

The  collegiate  institutions  are  well  scattered  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  country.  The  two  colleges  for 
boys  which  are  the  nearest  together  are  St.  Paul's  Insti- 
tute at  Tarsus  and  Central  Turkey  College  at  Aintab,  and 
yet  these  are  some  four  days'  journey  apart.  The  students 
in  Beirut  speak  Arabic  for  the  most  part ;  those  in  Marash 
and  Aintab  use  Turkish ;  those  at  Harpoot,  Armenian ; 
at  Marsovan  and  Smyrna,  Armenian,  Greek  and  Turkish; 
and  those  at  the  American  College  for  Girls  and  at  Robert 
College,  both  in  Constantinople,  use  about  all  the  lan- 
guages of  the  empire.  English  is  taught  in  all,  and 
constitutes,  in  some  of  the  institutions,  the  only  com- 
mon tongue;  as,  for  instance,  in  Robert  College  there  are 
seldom  less  than  a  dozen  nationalities  and  languages 
represented  among  the  students.  The  only  language  they 
all  wish  to  master  is  English.  This  becomes,  then,  the 
common  linguistic  meeting-place  of  scholars  in  the  Otto- 
man empire. 

All  but  three  of  the  American  colleges  here  mentioned 
are  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  either  New  York  or 
Massachusetts,  and  so  are  distinctively  and  legally  Amer- 
ican institutions.  All  of  them  have  some  kind  of  official 
recognition  from  the  Sublime  Porte  or  from  the  sultan 
himself.  Below  the  colleges  are  schools  for  both  boys  and 
girls  of  a  grade  which  admits  to  the  collegiate  courses. 
This  is  true  of  schools  remote  from  any  college  where  the 
pupils  who  cannot  go  to  a  distant  part  of  the  country  for 
an  education  are  numerous. 

Including  the  preparatory  departments,  there  are  not 


[  189 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


less  than  six  thousand  pupils  studying  in  connection  with 
these  collegiate  institutions,  and  all  under  Christian  train- 
ing. The  grade  in  many  respects,  if  not  in  all,  is  equal 
to  that  of  the  ordinary  American  college.  In  languages 
they  all  give  the  broadest  courses.  In  Euphrates  College, 
for  instance,  there  are  from  six  to  eight  languages  taught, 
at  least  six  of  which  are  compulsory.  The  courses  of  study 
are  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  country  and  with  a  view 
to  training  the  students  for  the  highest  service  to  their  own 
people.  The  college  at  Beirut  has  a  medical  department 
which  is  of  great  value  to  the  country,  drawing  its  students 
from  every  race. 

When  the  direct  collegiate  work  was  entered  upon,  in 
every  instance  the  theological  schools  were  made  separate 
departments  or  were  entirely  set  apart  by  themselves. 
There  are  at  the  present  time  six  distinct  training-schools 
in  Turkey  which  have  for  their  object  the  preparation  of 
young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry.  Two  of  these,  namely 
the  schools  at  Beirut,  and  at  Mardin,  in  northern  Meso- 
potamia, train  their  pupils  for  work  among  Arabic 
speaking  peoples ;  the  one  at  Harpoot,  for  work  among 
the  Armenians,  where  the  Armenian  language  is  chiefly 
used,  although  some  of  its  pupils  speak  Turkish;  the  one 
at  Marash  for  Turkish  speaking  peoples ;  the  one  at 
Marsovan  for  those  who  speak  Armenian,  Turkish  and 
Greek ;  and  the  one  at  Samakov,  Bulgaria,  for  Bulgar- 
ians alone.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  unite  this  theo- 
logical work,  but  the  long  distance  separating  the  schools 
and  the  time  and  cost  of  the  journey  to  and  from  them, 
the  barriers  of  the  different  languages,  and  the  restric- 
tions put  upon  all  native  students  in  travel,  have  made 
it  impracticable  to  do  so  up  to  the  present  time. 

In    these    institutions,    by    far   the    largest   number    of 

[  190  1 


INTELLECTUAL   RENAISSANCE 


teachers  are  natives  of  Turkey,  some  of  whom,  after  taking 
a  course  of  study  in  their  own  country,  have  had  post- 
graduate work  in  Europe  or  the  United  States.  In  each 
case,  the  president  is  an  American  who  is  usually  assisted 
by  one  or  more  Americans.  It  is  the  policy  of  all  these 
institutions  to  employ  as  many  thoroughly  equipped  native 
teachers  and  professors  as  can  be  secured  consistent  with 
maintaining  the  high  intellectual  and  moral  tone  of  the 
schools. 

In  no  case  are  these  free  schools.  The  students  are 
charged  tuition,  room  rent,  and  board,  and  they  also  pur- 
chase their  own  books  and  supplies.  Some  of  these 
colleges  secure  from  fees  and  payments  by  the  pupils 
nearly  three-fourths  of  the  entire  cost  of  conducting  the 
institution.  This  is  true  of  Robert  College  at  Constanti- 
nople and  Antolia  College  at  Marsovan,  and  others.  In 
addition  to  the  fees  paid,  the  people  of  the  country  have 
contributed  in  some  cases  most  liberally  for  the  college 
plant.  Aintab  CoUege  is  a  marked  instance  of  this.  In 
recent  years  the  early  students  who  have  prospered  in 
business  have  given  freely  for  the  endowment  of  their 
Alma  Mater,  as  in  the  case  of  Euphrates  College  at  Har- 
poot.  The  willingness  of  the  people  to  contribute  for  the 
support  of  these  higher  educational  institutions  demon- 
strates most  unmistakably  belief  in  their  value. 

Such  numerous  collegiate  and  theological  institutions 
necessitate  a  large  and  ever  increasing  number  of  schools 
of  lower  grade  all  over  the  country.  These  have  sprung 
up  in  nearly  every  village  and  are  found  in  every  town  of 
size.  They  are  for  the  most  part  entirely  supported  by 
the  people  themselves.  The  great  value  of  the  educational 
work  done  in  Turkey  by  the  missionaries  does  not  lie  alone 
in    the    schools    of   different    grades    now   controlled    and 


191  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


directed  by  them ;  it  also  appears  in  the  thirst  for  educa- 
tion which  manifests  itself  in  independent  village,  paro- 
chial, and  city  schools,  with  more  or  less  modern  equipment, 
and  stretching  from  Persia  to  the  Bosporus,  from  the 
Black  Sea  to  Arabia.  There  is  much  yet  to  be  desired  in 
this  respect,  but  much  has  already  been  accomplished. 

This  educational  work  has  made  no  perceptible  im- 
pression upon  the  Jews,  for  whose  special  awakening 
mission  work  in  Turkey  was  first  undertaken.  The  Greeks 
have  slowly  responded  and  many  young  men  from  that  race 
are  found  in  Robert  College  at  Constantinople,  in  the  Inter- 
national College  at  Smyrna  and  in  Anatolia  College  in  Mar- 
sovan.  The  race  as  a  race,  however,  in  Turkey  has  not 
taken  up  the  cause  of  modern  education  with  vigor  and 
pressed  it  with  moral  earnestness.  It  is  the  Armenian  race 
that  has  responded  most  fully  to  the  call  of  modem  learn- 
ing. By  far  the  largest  number  of  students  of  any  one  race 
in  the  schools  in  Turkey  are  Armenians.  They  constitute 
as  large  a  proportion  of  the  pupils  of  Robert  College  as 
that  of  any  other  race.  While  they  number  probably  less 
than  one-tenth  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  empire,  they  fur- 
nish a  large  proportion  of  its  student  body. 

These  modern  educational  institutions  in  Turkey  are 
a  mighty  force  in  reshaping  the  life,  thought,  customs  and 
practises  of  the  people  of  that  country.  Men  and  women 
from  these  schools  are  taking  leading  positions  there  in 
the  learned  professions  as  well  as  in  commerce  and  trade. 
Large  numbers  of  former  students  in  the  mission  schools 
are  now  prosperous  merchants  and  business  men  in  Europe 
and  America.  Through  these  men  of  modern  ideas 
Western  machinery  and  the  products  of  our  factories  are 
finding  their  way  into  that  part  of  the  East  in  increasing 
quantities  while  the  products  of  Turkey  are  in  exchange 

[  192  1 


INTELLECTUAL   RENAISSANCE 


brought  to  us.  It  is  probably  true,  as  has  been  frequently 
stated,  that  the  money  given  from  America  for  the  estab- 
lishment and  support  of  American  colleges  in  Turkey  is 
far  more  than  returned,  with  large  interest,  in  the  form  of 
increased  trade  with  that  country. 

While  the  Turks  have  not  largely  attended  any  of  the 
schools  mentioned,  nor  have  they  seemed  awake  to  the  needs 
of  a  modem  education,  nevertheless,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  so  many  advanced  schools  in  the  country  they 
have  been  compelled  to  improve  their  own  schools.  It  is 
an  interesting  fact  that  recently  a  far  greater  number  of 
Mohammedan  pupils  are  applying  for  admission  to  these 
schools.  Few  of  the  Turkish  schools  have  as  yet  been 
thoroughly  modernized;  still,  their  entire  educational 
system,  if  system  it  may  be  called,  has  felt  the  influence 
of  the  foreign  schools.  There  have  now  and  then  been 
attempts  at  the  organization  of  a  Mohammedan  college. 
These  have  for  the  most  part  proven  egregious  failures 
from  the  lack  of  preparatory  schools  to  train  students  for 
the  college  and  of  teachers  with  proper  training  to  carry 
on  college  work.  They  have  also  in  cases,  not  a  few, 
opened  and  conducted  schools  for  girls,  thus  demonstrat- 
ing their  acceptance,  in  a  measure  at  least,  of  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  of  the  equality  of  the  sexes  and  the  worth 
of  womanhood.  Many  Moslem  young  men  have  been 
aroused  to  seek  education  in  England  or  France. 


13  r  193 


THE  PRINTING-PRESS 


I  CANNOT  mention  the  American  missionaries  without  a  tribute  to  the 
admirable  work  they  have  done.  They  have  been  the  only  good  influence 
that  has  worked  from  abroad  upon  the  Turkish  empire.  They  have  shown 
great  judgment  and  tact  in  their  relations  with  the  ancient  churches  of  the 
land,  Orthodox,  Gregorian,  Jacobite,  Nestorian,  and  Cathohc.  They  have 
lived  cheerfully  in  the  midst,  not  only  of  hardships,  but  latterly  of  serious 
dangers  also.  They  have  been  the  first  to  bring  the  Ught  of  education  and 
learning  into  these  dark  places,  and  have  rightly  judged  that  it  was  far  better 
to  diffuse  that  light  through  their  schools  than  to  aim  at  a  swollen  roll  of 
converts.  From  them  alone,  if  we  except  the  British  consuls,  has  it  been  pos- 
sible during  the  last  thirty  years  to  obtain  trustworthy  information  regarding 
what  passes  in  the  interior.  —  Hon.  James  Bbtce,  British  Ambassador  to 
the  United  States. 


XVIII.    THE   PRINTING-PRESS 

THE  entire  plan  and  purpose  of  missionary  work  in 
Turkey  involved  the  printing-press.  Only  a  little 
more  than  two  years  after  the  first  missionaries 
to  Turkey  arrived  upon  the  field,  a  press  under  the  care 
of  a  missionary  of  the  Board  arrived  at  Malta,  com- 
missioned to  print  for  the  use  of  the  Palestine  and  Turkish 
missions.  At  that  time  hostilities  between  Greece  and 
Turkey  were  in  progress  and  no  port  upon  the  Medi- 
terranean was  safe  for  the  American  press.  Malta  was 
under  the  English  flag,  and  so  proved  for  the  time  the 
best  base  for  the  literary  operations  of  the  mission. 

Undoubtedly  the  earlier  publications  were  too  imprac- 
ticable to  meet  the  needs  of  the  people  of  Turkey.  The 
missionaries  assumed  ability  in  the  untrained  Oriental 
mind  to  grasp  the  thoughts  of  the  West.  In  the  list  of 
what  was  printed  at  Malta  during  the  first  ten  years  are 
found  such  works  as  "  Serious  Thoughts  on  Eternity," 
"  Guilt  and  Danger  of  Neglecting  the  Saviour,"  "  Scott's 
Force  of  Truth,"  "  Content  and  Discontent,"  "  Inspira- 
tion of  the  Holy  Scriptures."  A  great  variety  of  books 
was  prepared,  for  the  most  part,  by  those  who  knew 
practically  nothing  of  the  thought  and  life  of  the  people 
who  were  supposed  to  read  them. 

In  1833  the  political  atmosphere  had  so  cleared  that 
the  press  was  removed  from  Malta,  the  Arabic  equipment 
going  to  Beirut  in  Syria,  while  the  Greek,  Turkish,  and 
Armenian  outfit  was  set  up  in  Smyrna.  During  the  ten 
years  at  Malta,  over  twenty-one  million  pages  were 
printed  in  four  different  languages,  namely  modem  Greek, 

[  197  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Italian,  Armeno-Turkish,  and  Arabic.  The  largest  amount 
by  far  was  in  Greek.  No  printing  in  Armenian  was  done 
until  the  press  was  set  up  in  Smyrna  and,  previous  to 
1837,  less  than  175,000  pages  had  been  printed  in  that 
language. 

In  1829  it  was  decided  to  do  more  in  the  way  of 
providing  much  needed  books  for  elementary  schools.  One 
of  these  books  was  so  popular  that  27,000  copies  were 
sold  in  Greece  alone.  In  1831  the  Armeno-Turkish  New 
Testament,  translated  by  Dr.  Goodell,  was  printed.  That 
same  year  over  five  million  pages  of  modern  Greek  were  put 
out  from  the  press.  Nearly  all  of  this  was  circulated 
about  as  rapidly  as  it  could  be  run  off. 

The  publication  work  in  the  Turkish  missions  outside 
Syria  was  carried  on  at  Smyrna  until  1853,  or  for  about 
twenty  years.  The  last  and  one  of  the  most  important 
works  published  there  was  the  modern  Armenian  Bible 
translated  by  Dr.  Elias  Riggs.  This  one  book  has  ac- 
complished more  to  fix,  unify,  and  simplify  the  modern 
spoken  Armenian  language  than  all  other  influences  com- 
bined. What  the  King  James  version  has  done  for  the 
English  speaking  peoples,  and  Luther's  Bible  for  the 
Germans,  this  scholarly  and  accurate  translation  has  done 
for  the  Armenians  all  over  the  world. 

Besides  the  Bible  and  strictly  Biblical  works,  a  large 
number  of  school-books  of  almost  every  grade  as  well  as 
translations  of  choice  parts  of  English  Hterature  were 
printed  and  sold.  The  eagerness  of  the  Greeks  and 
Armenians,  and  especially  the  latter,  for  a  literature 
suited  to  their  aroused  intellectual  condition  made  it  pos- 
sible to  sell  at  cost  much  that  was  published.  After  the 
organization  of  the  Evangelical  Protestant  Church,  hymn- 
books  in  various  languages  were  prepared   and  printed. 


[198] 


THE   PRINTING-PRESS 


It  would  be  impossible  in  the  limits  of  this  discussion  to 
give  even  a  classified  list  of  the  publications  issued  from 
the  mission  presses  of  Turkey  since  printing  began.  The 
output  upon  the  average  from  1833,  even  to  the  present 
time,  has  been  at  the  rate  of  from  twelve  to  fifty  million 
pages  each  year  in  not  less  than  ten  languages,  including 
Bulgarian  and  Koordish.  In  some  years  this  has  been 
exceeded. 

At  Beirut  in  1906  there  were  printed  on  the  American 
press  152,500  volumes  of  distinctively  Biblical  literature, 
with  a  total  of  47,278,000  pages.  To  this  was  added 
nearly  9,000,000  pages  of  other  Christian  and  educa- 
tional books,  making  a  total  of  56,000,000  pages  of 
literature  from  this  one  press  alone  in  a  single  year. 

For  the  Bulgarians  and  the  Armenians  the  missionaries 
practically  created  their  new  literature  in  the  spoken 
tongue.  Of  the  first  one  hundred  books  printed  in  the 
modern  Bulgarian,  some  seventy  were  the  product  of  the 
missionary  press.  The  first  grammar  of  the  modern 
Armenian  language  was  printed  by  the  missionaries.  The 
Koords  had  no  literature  of  any  kind,  while  their  language 
is  even  yet  unclassified.  The  New  Testament  was  trans- 
lated into  that  tongue,  written  with  the  Armenian  char- 
acters, and  in  that  language  it  was  printed.  Parts  of  the 
Bible  have  also  been  printed  in  the  Albanian  tongue. 

The  Bible  has  been  translated  into  Arabo-Turkish,  the 
language  read  by  all  the  educated  Moslems  in  Turkey 
north  of  Syria  and  is  printed  and  widely  circulated.  This, 
with  the  Arabic  and  Syriac  versions  printed  at  Beirut, 
puts  the  Bible  into  the  language  of  all  the  Moslems  of 
Turkey,  except  the  Koords  and  Albanians.  As  yet  the 
former  have  only  a  part  of  the  Bible,  and  the  latter  a  very 
poor  and  fragmentary  version,  in  their  own  language. 

[  199  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


However  great  the  influence  of  the  press  has  been  in 
the  preparation  of  books  and  tracts,  it  has  probably 
reached  and  permanently  moved  more  people  still  by  its 
periodical  publications.  Papers  have  been  printed  for 
more  than  a  generation  in  Armenian,  Greek,  Armeno- 
Turkish,  Greco-Turkish,  Bulgarian,  and  Arabic  which 
have  had  wide  circulation  among  all  classes,  but  especially 
among  the  evangelicals.  These  papers  while  religious, 
have  also  been  newspapers,  carrying  into  the  remote 
hamlets  of  the  interior  information  of  the  great  outside 
world  of  which  the  masses  were  profoundly  ignorant  when 
mission  work  began.  The  influence  of  these  papers  can 
best  be  measured  by  the  fact  that  when  the  cholera  was 
approaching  any  section  of  the  country,  the  missionaries 
were  accustomed  to  publish  detailed  instructions  regard- 
ing the  best  methods  to  prevent  contracting  the  dread 
disease  and  what  to  do  as  soon  as  the  symptoms  appeared. 
Those  who  read  the  papers  took  great  care  to  follow 
directions,  and  so  the  Protestants  who  usually  knew  how 
to  read  seldom  suffered  from  the  scourge. 

When  the  cholera  was  raging  with  unusual  virulence 
in  Aintab,  taking  for  the  most  part  the  Moslems  and 
ignorant  Gregorians  and  leaving  the  Protestants  almost 
unscathed,  a  learned  Moslem  asked  a  missionary  if  God 
spread  a  tent  over  the  Protestants  that  the  cholera  should 
pass  them  by.  Through  the  periodicals  in  the  various 
languages,  the  missionaries  and  leading  Armenians  have 
been  able  constantly  to  speak  directly  to  the  most  in- 
telligent classes  of  people  in  the  entire  empire. 

When  the  missionaries  began  work  in  Turkey  in  1820 
there  was  no  newspaper  worthy  the  name  in  the  country 
in  any  language  and  the  number  of  books  was  but  few. 
Printing  was  not  left,  however,  entirely  in  the  hands  of 

r  200  1 


THE   PRINTING-PRESS 


the  missionaries,  for,  after  a  time,  to  meet  the  demands 
of  the  different  religious  communities  other  presses  were 
started.  These  were  small  in  output  and  power  and  did 
not  amount  to  much  until  within  the  last  twenty-five  years. 
During  this  time  the  Armenians  have  prepared  and  pub- 
lished some  excellent  text-books,  many  of  which  have  been 
and  still  are  in  constant  use  in  Protestant  schools.  They 
also  have  started  a  few  periodicals  that  for  the  most  part 
have  httle  permanent  value.  The  Moslems  have  done  but 
little  in  the  way  of  printing  books  or  periodicals  of  any 
kind.  They  do  not  allow  the  Koran  to  be  translated  into 
the  vernacular  of  the  people,  and  it  is  their  policy  to  ex- 
clude from  their  subjects,  as  far  as  possible,  all  knowledge 
of  the  outside  world.  The  Moslem  press  has  produced 
little  of  real  value  to  the  people. 

Great  freedom  to  the  work  of  the  press  was  given  in  the 
earlier  days,  all  of  which  has  changed  during  the  last 
thirty  years.  While  the  Turks  were  never  favorable  to  it, 
they  tolerated  it  under  a  silent  protest.  Gradually  the 
opposition  became  more  and  more  open  and  violent.  Un- 
doubtedly all  this  originated  among  the  Roman  Catholics 
and  the  Jesuits,  who  even  in  the  early  days  of  the  mission 
fought  against  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  and  Protes- 
tant books.  They  did  much  to  stir  up  opposition  to 
Protestant  books,  among  the  Greeks  first  and  later  among 
the  Armenians,  always  assuming  that  the  Bible  is  a 
Protestant  book.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  hostihty 
was  helped  on  also  by  the  representatives  at  the  Porte 
from  Russia.  The  Turks  were  not  so  much  concerned  with 
what  they  regarded  as  sauabbles  between  the  various 
Christian  sects. 

About  1878  Dr.  Wheeler,  President  of  Euphrates 
College,  imported  a  printing-press   into  Harpoot,  where 


[  201 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


he  set  it  up  and  ran  it  with  great  industry  for  several 
years.  Only  a  local  work  was  done  there,  while  the  general 
publication  operations  of  the  missions  were  carried  on  at 
Beirut  and  Constantinople.  In  the  eighties  the  Turkish 
government  began  to  put  severe  restrictions  upon  the 
press.  The  one  at  Harpoot  was  silenced  and  has  so  re- 
mained to  this  day.^  Strict  rules  were  promulgated  to  re- 
strict printing  in  the  empire.  Formal  permission  must  be 
procured  in  order  to  own  a  printing  outfit,  and  strict  rules 
were  formulated  for  its  conduct.  All  matter  to  be  printed 
must  first  be  submitted  to  a  royal  censor  whose  stamp  of 
approval  upon  every  article  is  necessary  before  it  is  put 
upon  the  press.  The  same  stamp  of  approval  which  car- 
ries with  it  the  sanction  of  the  sultan  must  be  printed 
upon  the  first  page  of  every  book,  otherwise  its  issue, 
circulation,  or  even  possession  by  a  subject  of  the  empire 
constitutes  a  crime.  This  approval  must  be  obtained  for 
every  edition  of  the  same  book.  It  is  almost  as  difficult  to 
secure  permission  to-day  to  print  a  new  edition  of  the 
Bible  as  it  was  after  the  appointment  of  the  first  censor- 
ship to  print  the  first  edition.  Permission  to  print  a 
book  like  the  Bible  carries  with  it  no  authority  to  print 
separately  any  part  of  the  same.  These  rules  have 
greatly  hampered  the  work  of  the  press,  but  have  not  by 
any  means  been  able  to  stop  the  constant  output  of  useful 
books  and  periodicals  in  the  leading  languages  of  the 
country. 

There  is  no  department  of  missionary  effort  which  has 
done  more  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  people  and  stir  in  them 
new  desires  and  ambitions  than  this  work  of  publication, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  general  educational  opera- 
tions. Many  English  books  and  periodicals  find  their  way 
*  This  press  began  operations  again  in  September,  1908. 


[  202 


THE   PRINTING-PRESS 


into  these  schools  and  are  included  in  the  libraries  of  the 
teachers  and  students.  These  too  are  subject  to  all  the 
restrictive  laws  which  hamper  the  press.  The  tendency 
is  more  and  more  to  exclude  all  foreign  books  and  period- 
icals and  to  have  it  almost  a  crime  for  a  subject  of 
Turkey  to  have  in  his  possession  a  library  of  any  kind. 
Many  an  Armenian  has  been  arrested  and  thrown  into 
prison  for  no  other  crime  than  the  possession  of  a  few 
harmless  English  books.  No  one  has  yet  been  bold  enough 
to  confiscate  from  the  libraries  of  the  missionaries  the 
books  which  they  possess,  but  this  step  has  been  repeatedly 
threatened.  The  officials,  however,  intercept  many  books 
in  the  mails  or  in  transit  by  freight. 

In  all  work  of  reform  which  marks  the  history  of  mis- 
sions in  that  country  this  agency  has  been  supremely 
potent.  Undoubtedly  to-day  there  is  no  more  vitalizing 
force  in  the  empire  affecting  the  intellectual  and  religious 
life  of  the  Moslems  than  that  which  is  exerted  not  only 
through  the  Bible  and  especially  prepared  literature,  but 
through  books  on  science.  These  contain  startling  rev- 
elations to  the  old-school  Moslem,  since  modern  science 
runs  counter  to  nearly  every  teaching  of  the  Koran. 
He  cannot  deny  their  truth  forever,  and  when  he  yields 
he  has  already  met  with  a  mighty  intellectual  and  religious 
evolution. 


[203] 


MODERN  MEDICINE 


In  the  Turkish  empire  a  remarkable  impetiis  has  been  given  to  the  material 
development  of  Asia  Minor  and  Syria,  which  may  be  largely  traced  to  the 
quickening  influences  of  American  missions.  Mission  converts  are  proverb- 
ially men  of  affairs,  alert  and  progressive,  and  in  full  sympathy  vi^ith  modem 
ideals  of  progress.  The  change  in  their  personal  environment,  and  in  the 
temper  and  spirit  of  their  hves,  testifies  to  new  impulses,  higher  ambitions,  and 
an  enlarged  and  increasing  sympathy  with  modern  progress.  As  long  ago 
as  1881,  an  incident  of  commercial  significance  was  reported  in  The  Mis- 
sionary Herald.  It  was  announced  that  through  missionaries  at  Harpoot 
nearly  five  hundred  sets  of  irons  for  fanning-mills  had  been  ordered  from  the 
United  States,  native  carpenters  having  been  taught  to  make  the  necessary 
woodwork  which  would  render  them  available.  Since  then  the  introduction 
of  American  agricultural  machines  has  increased,  in  spite  of  the  difficulties 
and  heavy  cost  of  transportation.  The  German  government  has  interested 
itself  in  seciu-ing  concessions  for  a  railway  through  Asia  Minor  to  Bagdad 
and  Busrah,  with  the  evident  expectation  that  German  trade  will  find  in 
those  regions  a  profitable  field  of  exploitation.  If  it  should  prove  true  that 
Mesopotamia  may  become  a  source  of  supply  for  the  grain  which  Europe 
needs,  there  is  good  reason  to  expect  that  American  agricultural  implements 
will  find  a  new  market  in  Asiatic  Turkey.  Owing  to  the  large  emigration  of 
Armenians  to  the  United  States,  and  the  long  residence  of  American  mis- 
sionaries in  Turkey,  no  foreign  country  is  better  known  or  more  admiringly 
regarded  by  the  entire  Christian  element  of  Armenia  than  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Charles  M.  Dickinson,  Consul-General  of  the  United  States  at  Constanti- 
nople, regards  even  the  material  returns  of  American  mission  work  in  Turkey 
as  justifying  in  large  measure  the  outlay.  His  opinion  is  expressed  in  the 
following  paragraph: 

"  In  all  our  efforts  to  extend  American  commerce,  in  the  hard  struggle  to 
estabhsh  and  maintain  direct  steam  communication  with  New  York,  the 
opening  of  American  expositions  and  agencies,  and  the  introduction  of  new 
articles  of  manufacture,  many  of  the  missionaries  have  been  willing  pioneers, 
blazing  the  way  for  American  exporters,  and  doing  valuable  introductory 
work  through  their  knowledge  of  the  local  languages  and  their  influence  with 
the  people.  From  every  standpoint,  therefore,  I  do  not  see  how  the  American 
missions  in  Turkey,  as  they  are  at  present  conducted,  can  fail  to  be  of  dis- 
tinct advantage  to  the  commerce  and  influence  of  the  United  States."  — 
James  S.  Dennis,  in  "  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress." 


XIX.    MODERN  MEDICINE 

THERE  was  no  purpose  or  plan  at  the  beginning 
of  missionary  work  in  Turkey  to  make  special  use 
of  the  physician.  Wlienever  a  man  was  appointed 
as  missionary  who  had  taken  a  full  course  of  medicine  he 
was  not  sent  out  especially  as  a  medical  missionary,  but 
went  as  did  the  others,  with  the  understanding  that  he  was 
an  evangelistic  missionary  and  was  to  use  his  medical  skill 
as  an  auxihary  force.  The  outfit  of  the  early  medical 
missionaries,  like  Dr.  Grant  and  Dr.  Asa  Dodge  of  Syria, 
was  exceedingly  circumscribed,  consisting  of  a  few  stand- 
ard remedies  and  sunple  instruments  and  appliances. 
There  was  no  suggestion  of  a  hospital  or  even  a  public 
dispensary.  The  medical  missionary  was  able  to  transport 
the  major  part  of  his  equipment  upon  a  horse  and  apply 
his  art  at  any  point  along  the  way.  After  the  days  of 
pioneering  were  passed  and  the  various  mission  stations 
were  well  established,  the  medical  missionaries  began  to 
prepare  for  a  broader  and  more  thorough  work. 

The  country  had  no  modern  physicians  when  the  Board 
began  work  there  and  no  schools  for  medicine.  The  people 
submitted  to  the  most  loathsome  and  cruel  methods  of 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  heartless  old  women  and  un- 
skilled men  who  traded  upon  their  sufferings.  From  the 
beginning  the  fullest  confidence  was  placed  in  the  American 
physician.  He  was  deemed  by  the  ignorant  and  needy 
masses  as  little  less  than  a  worker  of  miracles.  His  repu- 
tation gave  not  only  himself  but  his  missionary  associates 
standing  among  all  classes  in  the  country.  His  presence 
often  proved  in  times  of  stress  to  be  a  large  element  of 
safety    for    all    members    of    the    station.      The    Turkish 

[  207  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


ofScer  and  persecuting  ecclesiast  did  not  care  to  injure 
the  man  into  whose  hands  their  lives  might  soon  be  placed 
by  disease  or  accident.  They  thought  it  good  pohcy  to 
keep  on  fairly  good  terms  with  the  doctor. 

Medical  work  in  the  empire  took  its  earliest  and  strong- 
est hold  upon  Beirut  and  Aintab.  In  the  former  place  a 
hospital  was  erected  and  a  medical  school  was  in  operation 
in  the  '70's.  Aintab  took  the  same  step  ten  years  later, 
but  finally,  for  want  of  funds,  gave  up  the  medical  school 
but  continued  the  hospital.  The  next  mission  hospital 
to  be  erected  was  at  Mardin.  Until  the  last  decade  these 
constituted  the  main  mission  hospitals  in  the  empire. 
Hospitals  have  followed  at  Caesarea,  Marsovan,  and  Van, 
while  others  are  contemplated  at  Harpoot,  Sivas,  Erze- 
rum,  Adana,  Constantinople,  and  elsewhere. 

Many  Greeks  and  Armenians  have  qualified  themselves 
for  medical  practise  in  Turkey  by  taking  a  course  of 
training  either  in  the  medical  department  of  the  Syrian 
Protestant  College  at  Beirut  or  the  medical  schools  in 
Europe  or  the  United  States.  The  laws  of  Turkey  are  so 
stringent  in  regard  to  the  practise  of  medicine,  or  rather 
so  oppressive,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  subject 
of  Turkey  to  win  great  success  in  it.  The  law  permits 
the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  a  physician  upon  the  com- 
plaint of  any  one  that  he  did  not  correctly  treat  a  case 
which  ended  fatally.  When  once  he  has  been  imprisoned 
it  costs  a  round  sum  to  secure  release.  This  process  re- 
peated destroys  practise  and  eats  up  profits.  Many  a 
well-trained  Armenian  doctor  has  been  compelled  to  give 
up  the  effort  and  return  to  the  United  States.  There  are 
several  Armenian  physicians  enjoying  a  good  and  honor- 
able practise  in  this  country.  The  foreign  physician 
enjoys  the  extra  territorial  privileges  of  his  country  and. 


[208] 


MODERN    MEDICINE 


although  often  annoyed,  is  not  seriously  disturbed  by 
restrictive  measures.  He  practises  under  a  license  granted 
by  an  official  medical  board  at  Constantinople. 

Medical  missions  in  Turkey  have  opened  the  eyes  of  all 
classes  to  the  value  of  scientific  medical  practise.  Were 
it  not  for  the  restrictive  measures  of  local  officials,  every 
town  of  considerable  size  in  the  country  might  now  have 
its  native  physicians,  the  most  of  whom  were  trained  in 
Christian  schools.  Until  that  time  arrives  the  American 
missionary  physician  will  have  large  place  in  the  life  of 
the  country.  His  importance  there  is  due  to  this  fact, 
and  also  because  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the 
higher  Turkish  officials.  They  regard  the  work  of  the 
medical  missionary  as  supremely  Christian.  It  commands 
their  admiration.  Not  a  little  of  the  hold  which  the 
missionaries  now  have  upon  the  country  is  due  to  his 
presence  and  work.  In  imitation  of  the  missionaries,  the 
Turks  themselves  have  attempted,  at  different  places,  to 
maintain  hospitals  of  their  own  for  the  care  of  soldiers 
and  officers,  but  these  have  usually  been  of  little  value 
unless  the  physician  in  charge  was  a  European  or  a  man 
trained  by  the  missions. 

Medical  work  in  Turkey  is  probably  nearer  self-support 
than  that  of  any  other  missionary  country  except  Japan. 
The  people  are  willing  so  far  as  able  to  pay  for  medicines 
received  and  for  services  rendered.  Wealthy  officials 
often  make  a  handsome  present  to  the  missionary  phy- 
sician treating  them,  thus  making  it  possible  to  treat 
many  poor  without  pay.  The  hospital  at  Mardin,  for 
instance,  receives  in  fees  and  in  payment  for  medicines 
enough  to  meet  all  expenses  except  the  salary  of  the  Amer- 
ican physician  in  charge.  The  hospital  of  Aintab  receives 
little  money  from  the  Board. 


14  [  209  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Medical  missions  in  Turkey  are  less  hampered  by  offi- 
cialism and  hindered  by  opposition  than  any  other  form 
of  missionary  work.  Physicians  are  more  generally  wel- 
comed and  their  benefits  more  widely  appreciated  than  any- 
thing else  the  missionaries  do.  While  the  other  depart- 
ments cannot  be  and  ought  not  to  be  curtailed,  much  less 
abandoned,  in  view  of  all  the  conditions  that  prevail  there 
with  the  constant  scourges  of  pestilential  diseases  and  the 
recurrence  of  violence  and  massacre  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  there  is  an  unlimited  field  for  the  operations 
of  the  Christian  missionary  physician  who  commends  the 
gospel  which  he  preaches  to  all  with  whom  he  comes  in 
contact.  At  the  same  time,  this  work,  compared  with  the 
extent  of  its  influence,  costs  perhaps  less  than  any  other 
form  of  purely  missionary  service. 

Missionary  physicians,  their  medical  schools,  hospitals, 
dispensaries,  and  practise  among  the  people  have  been  a 
mighty  force  not  only  for  alleviating  suffering,  but  for 
breaking  down  the  superstitions  of  all  classes  of  people. 
The  Arabs,  the  Koords,  the  Turks,  as  well  as  other 
Mohammedan  races,  have  found  their  belief  in  kismet,  or 
fate,  greatly  shaken  by  the  practises  of  men  who  seemed 
successfully  to  set  themselves  against  the  will  of  God. 
They  have  seen  the  scourge  of  cholera  stayed  in  its  ravages 
by  the  application  of  modern  scientific  methods,  and  dis- 
eases which  were  regarded  as  almost  universally  fatal 
become  httle  feared,  and  they  are  compelled  to  inquire  if, 
after  all,  "  whatever  is,  is  ordained  by  Allah."  Perhaps 
the  medical  work  of  the  missionaries  in  Turkey  has  ac- 
complished more  in  breaking  down  that  benumbing  belief 
in  fatalism  among  the  Mohammedans  than  all  other 
phases  of  mission  work  together. 


[210] 


STANDING   OF  MISSIONARIES 


My  purpose  is  twofold:  first  to  show  the  American  people  the  kind  of 
work  in  which  the  missionaries  in  Turkey  are  engaged,  and  second  to  assure 
them  from  personal  observation  that  these  missionaries  do  not  encourage 
revolutionists  or  the  revolutionary  spirit.  I  am  surer  of  nothing  than  I  am  of 
this.  If  you  could  see  them  at  their  somewhat  thankless  tasks  you  would 
regard  them  as  the  most  consecrated  men  and  women  on  the  planet,  as  far 
removed  from  fostering  rebelUon  as  heaven  is  from  earth,  making  the  sacri- 
fice of  Life  and  of  all  social  and  even  domestic  relations,  and  doing  it  with  a 
cheerfulness  which  must  command  not  only  our  respect  but  also  our 
admiration. 

The  price  to  be  paid  for  the  enUghtenment  of  the  nation  is  very  heavy,  but 
these  noble  men  and  saintly  women  are  wilUng  to  pay  it,  and  I,  for  one,  feel 
that  my  poor  hfe  amounts  to  nothing  in  comparison ;  so  with  a  fuU  heart,  a 
heart  with  a  big  ache  in  it,  I  cry,  "  God  bless  them  ! " 

The  missionaries  are  the  Sir  Knights  of  modern  times,  their  weapons  are 
no  longer  swords,  but  ideas.  They  are  to  be  found  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe, 
and  they  are  always  surrounded  by  ambushed  perils.  They  are  the  represent- 
atives of  a  high  civiUzation  and  of  the  best  religious  thought  of  the  age,  and 
are  the  little  "  leaven"  which  in  good  time  is  to  "leaven  the  whole  lump."  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  they  are  doing  more  for  the  Turkey  of  to-day  than 
all  the  European  Powers  combined.  —  George  H.  Hepworth  in  "Through 
Armenia  on  Horseback." 


XX.    STANDING  OF  MISSIONARIES 

AT  the  beginning  of  work  in  Turkey  all  classes  were 
suspicious  of  the  missionaries.  Experience  with 
the  representatives  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and 
Greek  Churches  had  led  the  Mohammedans  and  others  to 
fear  that  their  errand  was  not  wholly  religious.  At  the 
same  time,  it  was  impossible  for  one  brought  up  in  the 
atmosphere  of  Turkey  not  to  confound  religion  with 
nationality.  The  American  missionaries  had  one  great 
advantage,  for  few  even  of  the  educated  in  Turkey  ever 
heard  of  the  United  States.  So  there  was  not  much 
alarm  at  the  prospects  of  missionaries  from  the  United 
States  gaining  political  supremacy  in  Turkey.  So  far 
as  the  Turks  understood,  the  country  back  of  them  was 
without  strength  or  repute.  This  fact  allayed  the  other- 
wise inevitable  suspicion  that  they  were  political  agents. 

It  required  more  than  fifty  years  of  residence  in  that 
country,  accompanied  by  a  life  of  constant  devotion  to 
the  interests  of  the  people,  to  remove  the  impression  that 
the  missionaries  were  there  for  what  they  could  make  out 
of  it.  The  following  conversation,  which  actually  took 
place,  illustrates  fairly  well  the  attitude  of  inquiry  and 
doubt.  The  parties  to  it  were  a  missionary  and  an  intel- 
ligent Armenian  in  the  interior  of  the  country: 

"  You  must  receive  a  pretty  large  salary  to  lead  you 
to  leave  your  home  and  friends  in  America  and  endure 
here  among  us  the  hardships  of  this  country." 

"  Quite  the  contrary,"  replied  the  missionary ;  "  I 
receive  what  all  American  missionaries  receive  and  no  more, 
that  is  my  bare  living  with  no  surplus." 

[213] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


"  Then,"  the  Armenian  quickly  repHed,  "  you  must 
expect,  after  you  have  learned  the  language,  to  receive 
some  government  appointment  at  a  large  salary." 

The  missionary  answered,  "  Few  missionaries  have  ever 
given  up  missionary  work  for  a  government  appointment, 
and  I  have  never  seen  one  who  would  consider  such  an 
appointment,  or  who  would  remain  in  the  country  at  all 
for  diplomatic  or  consular  service," 

"  There  can  be  httle  doubt,  then,"  said  the  questioner, 
*'  that  in  your  country  the  missionary  is  held  in  high 
honor  by  all  the  people,  so  much  so  that  it  is  worth  all 
it  costs  to  win  it  by  a  period  of  severe  hardship  in  a  land 
hke  this." 

"  You  are  wrong  again,  my  friend,"  said  the  missionary, 
"  for  most  of  the  people  in  the  United  States  think  a  mis- 
sionary is  a  fool  to  throw  his  life  away  in  a  strange  and 
hostile  land;  and,  besides,  the  missionaries  enter  upon  the 
work  for  life ;  therefore  they  have  no  time  left  to  go  home 
and  enjoy  the  honors  that  an  admiring  people  might  wish 
to  thrust  upon  them." 

"  What  are  you  out  here  for,  anyway  ^  "  asked  the  dis- 
couraged guesser. 

"  We  missionaries  have  come  out  here  only  to  help  the 
people  of  this  country  to  establish  worthy  Christian  insti- 
tutions and  to  become  better  men  and  women." 

"  Surely  there  is  some  other  reason,"  said  the  man  as 
he  walked  away.  "  Who  would  ever  bring  upon  himself 
such  hardship  and  trouble  for  that.?  " 

The  true  Christian  motive  that  considers  others'  needs 
ahead  of  self-interest  was  little  understood,  and  it  re- 
quired generations  of  missionary  labors  to  bring  the  people 
to  begin  to  understand  it. 

Times  of  great  national  distress  like  war,  massacres, 

[  214  1 


STANDING     OF     MISSIONARIES 


famine,  and  plague,  had  given  the  missionaries  unusual 
opportunity  to  prove  to  the  people  that  they  were  there, 
not  for  their  own  personal  comfort  but  to  bind  up  the 
broken  heart  and  give  cheer  to  the  downcast  and  the  dying. 
Every  added  missionary  grave,  and  they  dot  the  country 
from  Arabia  to  the  Black  Sea  and  from  Persia  to  Salo- 
nica,  was  an  added  argument  which  no  Oriental  could 
answer,  that  the  missionaries  were  there  to  minister  and 
not  to  be  ministered  unto,  and  to  give  even  their  lives  for 
others. 

Through  many  vicissitudes  and  misunderstandings  and 
misconceptions  the  missionaries  have  quietly  continued 
their  labors  until,  without  doubt,  it  would  be  hard  to  find 
an  intelligent  man  of  any  race  or  creed  in  the  empire  who 
does  not  believe  them  to  be  earnest,  sincere,  altruistic  in 
their  life  and  work.  All  classes  have  learned  that  in  times 
of  trouble  the  missionary  is  their  best  friend,  no  matter 
how  much  they  may  have  abused  him  in  times  of  pros- 
perity. They  know  that  he  will  always  do  what  he  believes 
to  be  for  their  best  good,  even  though  there  may  be  a 
difference  of  judgment  as  to  what  is  the  best  good. 

In  the  midst  of  Oriental  duplicity,  the  missionaries 
have  established  the  reputation  for  speaking  the  truth. 
At  first  this  was  one  of  the  severest  puzzles  to  the  Turks 
in  the  dealings  of  the  missionaries  with  the  government. 
They  could  conceive  of  no  reason  for  telling  the  truth 
under  such  circumstances,  so  they  were  completely  misled. 
The  missionaries  applied  to  the  government,  in  an  interior 
city,  for  permission  to  erect  a  schoolhouse.  All  school 
buildings  were  at  that  time  opposed  by  the  Turkish 
officials.  The  governor  asked,  "  For  what  is  the  building 
to  be  used  ?  "  "A  school,"  replied  the  missionary.  "  What 
are    you    going    to    keep    in    it  ? "    asked    the    governor. 


215  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


"  Scholars  and  teachers,"  was  the  reply.  "  Why  do  you 
want  so  large  a  building?  "  was  the  next  question.  "  Be- 
cause we  are  going  to  have  many  teachers  and  many 
pupils,"  said  the  missionary.  "  What  are  you  going  to 
manufacture  there  when  it  is  done.''  "  was  asked.  "  Schol- 
ars," was  the  answer.  The  missionary  was  dismissed  and 
for  hours  the  council  discussed  the  question.  Not  a  man 
present  believed  that  the  proposed  building  was  to  be  a 
school.  They  said,  "  Surely  if  he  were  building  a  school 
he  would  not  have  acknowledged  it;  it  must  indeed  be 
something  else."  It  was  afterwards  learned  that  they 
thought  the  building  was  to  be  an  armory  for  manufac- 
turing guns. 

When  Dr.  Hepworth  of  the  New  York  Herald  took  his 
famous  journey  through  Armenia  in  1896,  he  was  given, 
by  a  Turkish  governor,  a  letter  of  introduction  to  one  of 
the  American  missionaries,  Dr.  H.  N.  Barnum  at  Harpoot, 
with  the  added  statement,  "  He  knows  more  about  the 
conditions  of  the  interior  of  Turkey  than  any  living  man, 
and  you  can  depend  absolutely  upon  what  he  says." 

There  is  no  class  of  people  so  trusted  by  the  Armenians 
in  Turkey,  as  well  as  by  all  other  races,  as  are  the  Ameri- 
can missionaries.  Men  who  have  been  hostile  to  mission- 
ary work  bring  their  daughters  to  the  missionay  boarding- 
school  because,  they  say,  "  We  know  they  will  be  safe  here." 
All  classes  take  the  word  of  a  missionary  as  absolutely 
true  and  without  question.  Money  is  put  into  their  hands 
by  the  people  for  safe-keeping  or  for  transmission  to  some 
other  part  of  the  country  or  out  of  it,  without  hesitation 
and  without  asking  for  a  receipt. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Turkish  officials,  even  though 
for  reasons  known  to  themselves  they  may  oppose  the 
erection  of  buildings  for  school  or  hospital  purposes  and 


[216] 


STANDING     or     MISSIONARIES 


hamper  the  missionaries  in  their  general  evangelistic  work, 
have  long  since  ceased  to  regard  them  in  any  other  light 
than  as  men  and  women  of  unquestioned  integrity  and 
purity  of  life.  Much  testimony  might  be  adduced  to  show 
the  confidence  that  officials  repose  in  individual  mission- 
aries. They  may  not  like  the  higher  educational  institu- 
tions the  missionaries  have  established  there,  which  are 
leading  an  increasing  percentage  of  the  people  to  think 
for  themselves,  yet  they  do  not  now  attempt  to  destroy 
them  or  their  influence  by  making  personal  charges  against 
the  missionaries  themselves. 

Many  Turkish  officials  of  high  rank  have,  in  times  of 
special  stress,  sought  the  counsel  of  missionaries,  who  had 
resided  in  the  country  many  years,  and  who  were  gener- 
ally reputed  to  have  a  wide  knowledge  of  local  affairs.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  in  many  instances  the  counsel 
obtained  was  acted  upon,  and  later  sincere  gratitude  was 
expressed. 

After  the  Armenian  massacre  in  1895-96  the  Armenian 
patriarch  at  Constantinople  called  the  treasurer  of  the 
American  Board  at  Constantinople  and  asked  him  to  take 
complete  charge  of  a  considerable  sum  of  money  collected 
for  relief.  "  For,"  said  he,  "  I  have  no  means  of  distrib- 
uting this  fund  with  assurance  that  it  will,  in  any  large 
part,  reach  the  needy  people,  but  I  know  that  through 
the  missionaries  every  dollar  will  go  to  the  suffering 
poor." 

The  absolute  integrity  of  the  life  and  dealing  of  the 
missionaries  with  the  people  has  done  perhaps  as  much  in 
that  land  of  deceit  and  dishonesty  to  commend  the  simple 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  all  classes  as  any  other  single 
phase  of  the  missionary  work.  It  has  come  to  be  believed 
that   a   Christian    of  the   missionary   type   must   be   true. 


[217] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


honest,  upright,  and  pure.  This  has  great  significance 
in  a  land  hke  Turkey. 

While  Turkey  has  suffered  but  little  from  general 
famine  or  from  plagues  that  have  been  sweeping  in  their 
character,  still  the  missionaries  have  been  compelled  to 
devote  much  time  and  strength  to  the  distribution  of  help 
to  the  starving  and  homeless,  owing  to  oft-repeated  polit- 
ical disasters  amounting  occasionally  to  open  massacres. 
These  began  in  1822  at  the  time  of  the  Greco-Turkish  war 
when  in  Chios  it  was  reported  that  fully  fifty  thousand  lives 
were  lost.  The  next  great  movement  of  the  kind  occurred 
in  the  Nestorian  mountains  when  some  ten  thousand 
Armenians  and  Nestorians  were  said  to  have  been  put  to 
death.  In  1860  in  the  Lebanon  and  at  Damascus  about  the 
same  number  of  Maronites  and  Syrians  were  destroyed 
by  the  Turks  and  Druses.  In  1876  occurred  the  well 
remembered  Bulgarian  massacres  where  some  ten  thousand 
Bulgarians  were  reported  to  have  lost  their  lives.  The 
last  great  and  concerted  movement  of  this  kind  occurred, 
as  we  all  remember,  in  1895—96,  which  extended  from 
Persia  to  Constantinople  and  in  which  it  is  impossible  to 
state  with  accuracy  how  many  thousands  of  Armenians 
were  massacred.  The  number  has  been  placed  at  one 
hundred  thousand,  though  this  is  undoubtedly  too  high. 

In  addition  to  these  marked  cases  of  violence  and  murder, 
the  same  process  has  gone  on  upon  a  much  smaller  scale 
for  the  last  thirty  years,  causing  terror,  distress,  and 
poverty,  and  calling  for  comfort  and  assistance.  In  the 
last  three  instances  of  general  massacres  reported  above, 
the  missionaries  were  upon  the  ground,  facing  no  Httle 
of  the  peril  and  hardship  with  the  people,  and  afterwards 
acted  as  agents  for  the  distribution  of  relief  to  those  who 
were  left  in  abject  destitution.     Hundreds  of  thousands 


218  ] 


STANDING      or      MISSIONARIES 


of  dollars  have  passed  through  their  hands  for  this  pur- 
pose. With  this  money  they  have  procured  and  distrib- 
uted food  and  clothing  to  the  starving  and  naked,  while 
many  lines  of  industry  were  opened  to  afford  means  of 
prolonged  self-help. 

The  missionaries  in  Turkey  have  taken  the  lead  in  the 
application  of  principles  by  which,  in  the  distribution  of 
charity,  much  more  can  be  accompHshed,  without  im- 
poverishing the  recipients,  by  devising  means  whereby  the 
aid  received  can  be  earned,  at  least  in  part.  This  same 
principle  has  been  also  carried  out  in  the  support  of  the 
large  number  of  orphans  saved  from  the  massacres  of 
1895. 

They  have  purchased  and  distributed  seed  for  planting 
when  famine  conditions  had  exhausted  the  supply.  In 
severer  cases  when  their  cattle  had  died  or  had  been  taken 
from  them,  missionaries  have  purchased  oxen  and  loaned 
them  to  the  farmers  for  putting  in  their  crops.  The 
policy  of  aid  practised  at  all  times  has  been  to  help  the 
people  to  help  themselves. 

The  missionaries  in  these  and  other  lines  of  eleemosynary 
operations  have  demonstrated  that  they  are  the  friends  of 
all  without  reference  to  creed  or  religion.  While  these 
disasters  have  been  terrible  to  contemplate  and  have 
brought  immeasurable  hardship  and  care  upon  the  mis- 
sionaries, they  have  yet  opened  new  opportunities  of 
approach  to  the  people  and  have  revealed  the  sincere 
desire  to  relieve  them  in  their  supreme  distress.  All  classes 
have  learned  to  trust  the  missionaries,  and  in  times  of 
trouble,  all  races  appeal  to  them  for  assistance. 


219 


COMPLETED  WORK 


What  is  in  the  future  no  man  can  tell,  but  the  growth  of  pure  religion 
in  whatever  form  of  church  organization;  the  development  of  freedom  of 
thought;  the  attainment  of  ci\Tl  hberty,  and  that  not  merely  for  Armenia, 
but  for  Greek,  Nestorian,  Jacobite,  and  even  for  the  Turk  himself,  depends 
upon  the  continuance  of  the  influences  for  a  higher  hfe  that  have  been  at 
work  during  the  past  sixty  years,  and  that  depends  upon  the  missionaries 
being  supported  at  their  posts.  Theirs  is  no  sectarian  work.  They  stand  as 
the  friends  of  Gregorian  Armenians,  Roman  CathoHc  Chaldeans,  Nestorians 
and  Jacobites  as  well  as  of  those  in  closer  affihation  with  the  Protestant 
Churches  of  Europe  and  America.  America  should  stand  by  them  and 
demand  their  full  protection.  It  is  oiu-  right  by  treaty ;  it  is  our  right  by  the 
duty  we  owe  humanity,  by  the  duty  we  owe  to  our  tradition  as  a  Uberty- 
loving  nation.  We  have  no  pohtical  ends  to  serve;  we  want  not  a  square 
foot  of  the  sultan's  domains;  but  we  stand,  as  we  have  always  stood,  for 
freedom  for  the  oppressed,  for  the  right  of  every  man  to  worship  his  God  in 
the  Ught  of  his  own  conscience.  —  Edwin  Munsell  Bliss,  in  "Turkey 
and  the  Armenian  Atrocities." 


XXI.    COMPLETED   WORK 

IN  order  to  understand  the  methods  employed  in  plant- 
ing missions  in  Turkey  and  the  permanent  results 
following,  one  must  have  a  clear  idea  of  what  the 
missionaries  were  attempting  to  accomplish.  Perhaps  we 
make  the  subject  clearer  by  stating  first  some  of  the 
things  they  were  not  attempting  to  do. 

They  were  not  attempting  to  plant  American  churches 
in  Turkey  over  wliich  the  missionaries  should  preside  as 
pastors  and  which  should  be  under  the  control  and  direc- 
tion of  the  mission. 

They  were  not  attempting  to  transport  into  Turkey 
American  churches,  and  American  schools,  and  American 
customs  and  dress  or  anything  else  that  is  American. 

They  were  not  attempting  to  plant  churches  or  schools 
or  any  other  line  of  Christian  work  which  should  be  per- 
petually dependent  upon  contributions  from  America  for 
their  maintenance. 

What  then,  to  speak  positively,  were  some  of  the  things 
the  missionaries  were  attempting  to  do  In  Turkey?  It 
should  be  stated  at  the  outset  that  no  settled  policy  was 
clearly  in  the  mind  of  any  one  missionary  at  the  beginning 
of  the  work.  When  missionary  work  began  in  Turkey  no 
one,  not  even  the  officers  of  the  Mission  Board,  had 
framed  such  a  policy  in  detail.  All  had  one  vague  desire 
and  purpose,  namely  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  the 
people  who  dwell  in  the  Turkish  empire.  At  first,  as  has 
been  stated,  there  was  no  intention  of  organizing  churches 
separate  from  those  already  in  existence  there.  It  was 
expected   that   the   missionaries   upon    the   ground  would 

[  223  ] 


DAYBEEAK    IN    TUEKEY 


shape  and  adopt  their  measures  as  necessity  demanded. 
Men  of  broad  culture,  deep  piety,  and  sound  common  sense 
were  appointed  to  the  fields,  and  to  them  was  entrusted  the 
responsibility  of  evolving  a  poUcy  for  themselves. 

When  independent  Protestant  churches  were  organ- 
ized in  1846  it  seemed  the  only  natural  step  to  ordain  over 
them  pastors  from  among  their  own  people.  There  were 
several  able  and  well-educated  Armenians  whose  fitness  for 
this  office  was  unquestionable.  At  any  rate,  there  were 
not  enough  missionaries  upon  the  ground  to  fiU  these  posi- 
tions. Perhaps  this  last  fact  helped  materially  in  setthng 
the  policy  of  a  native  pastor  for  a  native  church.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  there  was  a  speedy  recognition  of  the  right  of 
the  native  church  to  have  a  pastor  of  its  own  from  among 
its  own  race.  This  was  early  recognized  as  good  policy, 
and  was  put  into  operation. 

It  does  not,  however,  seem  to  have  occurred  to  the 
missionaries  then  that  the  native  churches  had  the  same 
right  to  support  the  pastor  thus  ordained  over  them.  The 
missionaries  were  there  to  see  that  the  Christian  work  was 
carried  on,  and,  to  their  minds,  a  most  important  part  of 
it  was  to  provide  for  the  expense  of  the  churches  they  had 
been  agents  in  forming.  In  the  annual  reports  of  that 
period  we  find  no  allusion  to  payments  by  the  people  them- 
selves for  the  support  of  their  pastors.  That  was  regarded 
as  a  part  of  the  service  missionaries  were  to  render,  and 
the  people  seemed  perfectly  willing  to  have  it  so. 

In  1856  Crosby  H.  Wheeler  was  sent  out  as  a  mission- 
ary and  in  1857  he  was  assigned  to  Harpoot  in  Eastern 
Turkey.  He  had  received  a  thoroughly  practical  train- 
ing in  business  and  as  a  pastor  in  Maine  before  going  out. 
While  profoundly  earnest  in  his  purpose  to  Christianize 
the  people  of  Turkey,  he  had  little  sentiment  in  his  make- 


[224  ] 


COMPLETED    WORK 


up  and  was  eminently  practical  in  all  he  undertook.  He 
soon  discovered  that  the  churches  in  Turkey  were  re- 
garded by  the  people  as  belonging  to  the  missionaries, 
since  the  missionaries  paid  all  the  bills.  Many  who  at- 
tended felt  it  to  be  a  favor  they  were  conferring  upon  the 
missionaries.  A  church  in  the  city  of  Arabkir,  some  two 
days'  journey  northwest  of  Harpoot,  was  in  need  of  a 
stove.  Dr.  Wheeler  ordered  one  from  America,  paid  the 
bill,  even  for  transportation  to  Arabkir.  One  of  the 
deacons  of  the  church  received  the  stove  and  set  it  up,  and 
then  sent  a  bill  for  his  services  to  Dr.  Wheeler.  This 
turned  the  tide.  Dr.  Wheeler  from  that  time  became  the 
champion  of  self-support  for  native  churches,  as  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  self-government  and  self-propagation. 

The  people,  for  the  most  part,  did  not  welcome  the 
change.  They  were  Orientals,  and  could  not  see  why  the 
American  Christians  should  not  have  the  privilege  of 
supporting  their  pastors  and  meeting  all  the  cost  of  their 
churches  if  they  so  desired.  Dr.  Wheeler,  by  pen  and 
voice,  advocated  the  policy  with  great  energy  and  force. 
The  wisdom  of  it  was  recognized  by  the  officers  of  the 
Board.  It  gained  general  approval  from  most  of  the 
missionaries  in  Turkey,  but  many  of  them  hardly  dared 
to  apply  it  vigorously  in  their  own  immediate  community. 
It  required  no  little  courage  to  adopt  and  put  through 
so  unpopular  a  measure.  The  principle  was  a  right  one 
and  could  not  but  prevail.  The  wiser  Armenians  and 
Greeks  saw  that  only  in  this  way  could  they  secure  for 
themselves  liberty  and  independence  of  action  befitting 
their  ability.  While  their  desire  for  money  inchned  them 
to  cling  to  the  old  custom,  their  love  of  freedom  forced 
them  towards  self-support. 

The    same    principle    was    applied    to    the    missionary 


15  [  225  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


schools.  At  first  they  also  were  free,  but  in  the  Orient  no 
real  value  attaches  to  that  which  costs  nothing.  Schools 
that  are  free  can  be  attended  or  not  as  the  pupil  sees  fit. 
Books  given  away  are  easily  lost  or  destroyed  and  are 
never  valued.  To  command  respect  for  the  schools  and 
insure  regularity  of  attendance  it  became  necessary  to 
charge  the  pupils  tuition.  A  pupil  for  whom  tuition  had 
been  paid  could  be  depended  upon  to  be  present  when  not 
seriously  sick.  Books  and  slates  when  purchased  were 
cared  for  and  used.  Dr.  Wheeler  once  spent  several  hours 
in  persuading  a  man  to  purchase  a  two  cent  slate  for  his 
boy  in  school.  The  contest  was  for  the  principle,  not  the 
two  cents.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  Dr.  Wheeler  carried 
his   point. 

This  principle  is  now  a  well-established  policy  through- 
out the  Turkish  missions.  Native  churches,  as  soon  as  they 
become  financially  able,  assume  the  entire  expense  for  them- 
selves. No  missionary  is  the  pastor  of  a  native  church. 
The  weaker  churches  pay  what  they  can,  the  missionaries 
supplementing  with  the  understanding  that  the  mission's 
aid  shall  diminish  as  their  financial  strength  increases. 

Many  Protestant  schools  in  Turkey  to-day  receive  no  aid 
from  mission  funds.  The  people  assume  that  an  education 
has  a  real  value  for  which  they  are  wilHng  to  pay.  Some 
of  the  colleges  receive  in  tuition  fees  as  much  as  three- 
fourths  of  the  cost  of  conducting  the  institution.  With 
others  differently  situated  the  proportion  is  less  but  all  get 
no  small  part  of  their  income  from  the  students.  Probably 
the  higher  educational  institutions  in  Turkey  secure  as 
large  if  not  a  larger  part  of  their  running  expenses  from 
the  pupils  than  do  similar  institutions  in  any  other  coun- 
try in  the  world. 

The   same  principle   applies   also   to   literature  and  to 


[  226  ] 


COMPLETED    WORK 


medical  treatment.  The  people  pay  liberally  for  all  the 
products  of  the  press,  whether  it  be  in  the  form  of  period- 
icals or  books  and  tracts.  Missionary  physicians  early 
learned  that  they  could  accomphsh  more  good  by  charg- 
ing fees  for  service  and  for  medicine  in  all  cases  where  the 
patient  is  able  to  pay.  The  patient  who  receives  medicine 
free  when  he  has  money  to  pay  for  it  is  apt  to  defy  all  di- 
rections, or  even  not  take  it  at  all  unless  he  likes  it.  Medi- 
cine that  has  been  paid  for  is  pretty  sure  to  be  taken. 
Some  of  the  hospitals  in  Turkey,  apart  from  the  salary 
of  the  missionary  physician  in  charge,  are  practically  self- 
supporting,  the  fees  of  the  patients  and  the  sums  paid  for 
medicine  being  sufficient  to  meet  the  cost  of  attendants, 
suppHes,  and  the  care  of  the  hospital. 

The  deserving  poor,  however,  are  not  turned  away.  In 
schools  methods  of  self-help  are  provided  for  students 
who  have  no  funds  with  which  to  pay  tuition,  so  that  their 
self-respect  and  independence  are  not  destroyed.  In  the 
same  way  provision  is  made  for  books.  In  cases  of  sick- 
ness, no  one  who  is  worthy  is  ever  refused  treatment  by  the 
missionary  physician  because  he  has  no  money  to  pay. 

This  principle  of  self-support  has  become  a  fixed  part  of 
the  work  in  Turkey.  The  people  are  now  thoroughly  com- 
mitted to  it.  They  recognize  that  the  mission  is  not  there 
to  transplant  institutions  from  abroad,  but  to  sow  seed 
from  which  institutions  may  grow  in  the  soil  of  Turkey, 
watered  by  Turkish  showers,  warmed  by  the  Turkish  sun, 
cultivated  and  cared  for  by  Turkish  hands.  Much  greater 
progress  would  have  been  made  in  self-support  had  it  not 
been  for  many  overwhelming  disasters  which  have  swept 
over  the  empire  at  intervals  since  missionary  work  began 
there.  First  it  was  devastating  wars  with  Greece,  with 
Egypt,  and  with  Russia.     Then  came  famine  and  massacre, 


[227] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


the  latter  paralyzing  trade,  killing  the  wage-earners,  and 
driving  many  of  the  most  enterprising  from  the  country. 
Had  the  Greeks  and  Armenians  in  Turkey  been  free  from 
these  terrible  disasters  for  the  last  generation, .it  is  safe  to 
say  every  missionary  church,  school,  hospital,  and  press 
would  be  to-day  entirely  independent  of  financial  aid  from 
this  country.  There  would  probably  be  need  of  mission- 
aries for  some  time  to  come,  and  money  from  this  coun- 
try might  still  be  called  for  to  open  new  sections  of 
the  country,  as,  for  instance,  in  Koordistan,  and  Albania, 
and  Arabia,  but  in  the  old  fields  ample  financial  support 
would  easily  be  supplied  by  the  people  themselves.  In  1907 
in  spite  of  their  poverty  and  distress  the  people  connected 
with  the  American  Board  missions  alone  paid  for  their 
own  churches,  schools,  and  missionary  medical  attendance 
over  $128,000,  —  a  sum  far  in  excess  of  what  was  paid  by 
the  Board  to  support  the  same  work.  We  may  confidently 
expect  that  if  a  new  imperial  policy  should  be  put  into 
operation  and  Turkey  afford  safety  to  life  and  property 
and  liberty  of  conscience  and  judgment  to  all  her  subjects, 
there  would  be  a  marked  advance  in  the  support  of  all 
Christian  and  educational  work  in  the  country,  and  a  rapid 
enlargement  of  all  such  institutions. 

Much  has  also  been  accomplished  in  the  line  of  self-prop- 
agation and  aggressive  Christian  work.  Various  organi- 
zations of  native  Christian  leaders,  like  the  Bithynia  Union 
of  Western  Turkey,  organized  in  1864,  the  Harpoot 
Evangelical  Union  organized  in  1865,  the  Cihcia  Union  of 
Central  Turkey,  and  similar  organizations  in  Marsovan 
and  in  Bulgaria,  as  well  as  in  other  places,  have  rendered 
loyal  ser^dce  in  the  work  of  evangelization.  These  Unions 
have  cooperated  with  the  missionaries  in  aggressive  op- 
erations as  well  as  in  the  direction  and  supervision  of  the 


[  228  ] 


COMPLETED    WORK 


churches  already  organized.  Their  annual  meetings  have 
been  marked  events  in  the  history  of  the  churches.  In 
these  the  missionaries  are  only  honorary  members,  the 
native  brethren  taking  the  burden  of  responsibility.  In 
some  of  the  Unions,  as  at  Harpoot  in  Eastern  Turkey,  a 
committee  is  annually  appointed  to  cooperate  during  the 
year  with  the  missionaries  in  looking  after  and  directing 
work  in  the  churches  and  schools  as  well  as  in  planning 
and  executing  general  evangelistic  movements. 

What  the  native  churches  are  doing  in  the  line  of  ex- 
pansion is  best  exhibited  in  the  Koordistan  Missionary 
Society  which  had  its  beginning  nearly  forty  years  ago  in 
the  Harpoot  Evangelical  Union.  This  society  was  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  gospel  and  the  advantages 
of  a  Christian  education  to  the  Koordish  speaking  Arme- 
nians who  dwelt  in  the  heart  of  Koordistan  between  the 
Harpoot,  Mardin,  and  Bitlis  stations  of  the  Board.  Funds 
were  collected,  visitations  made,  and  promising  Koordish 
speaking  students  from  that  country  were  brought  to 
Harpoot  and  educated  at  the  expense  of  that  society  and 
later  returned  to  their  people  as  teachers  and  preachers. 
As  the  work  enlarged,  evangelical  churches  in  other  parts 
of  the  country  joined  in  the  enterprise  until  it  has  come 
to  be  recognized  as  a  work  belonging  to  evangelical  Arme- 
nians wherever  found.  Many  Armenians  in  the  United 
States  have  liberally  contributed  to  sustain  this  society. 
The  Armenians  give  freely  for  any  Christian  work  that 
appeals  to  their  national  pride  or  that  takes  hold  upon 
their  sympathies. 

In  more  recent  times  the  alumni  and  students  of  Eu- 
phrates College  who  have  gone  to  England  or  come  to  this 
country  have  contributed  for  providing  scholarships  in 
that  institution  for  the  education  of  poor  but  deserving 

[  22!)  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


students.  While  some  are  endowing  scholarships,  others 
propose  to  provide  permanent  professorships  in  the  col- 
lege. All  this  is  additional  evidence  that,  the  Armenians 
once  assured  of  safety  to  life  and  property,  the  Christian 
educational  work  in  Turkey  will  speedily  become  largely, 
if  not  entirely,  self-supporting.  The  Greeks,  among  whom 
much  less  work  is  carried  on,  would  not  fall  behind  in  self- 
support. 


230  ] 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  CHANGES 


In  the  year  1860,  in  a  public  address  in  the  city  of  London,  the  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury  paid  the  following  tribute  to  the  character  of  the  American 
missionaries  in  Turkey :  — 

"I  do  not  believe  that  in  the  whole  history  of  missions;  I  do  not  believe 
that  in  the  history  of  diplomacy,  or  in  the  history  of  any  negotiations  carried  on 
between  man  and  man,  we  can  find  anything  to  equal  the  wisdom,  the  sound- 
ness, and  the  piu-e  evangelical  truth  of  the  body  of  men  who  constitute  the 
American  mission.  I  have  said  it  twenty  times  before,  and  I  will  say  it  again 
—  for  the  expression  appropriately  conveys  my  meaning  —  that  '  they  are  a 
marvelous  combination  of  common  sense  and  piety.'  Every  man  who 
comes  in  contact  with  these  missionaries  speaks  in  praise  of  them.  Persons  in 
authority,  and  persons  in  subjection,  all  speak  in  their  favor ;  travelers  speak 
well  of  them ;  and  I  know  of  no  man  who  has  ever  been  able  to  bring  against 
that  body  a  single  vaUd  objection.  There  they  stand,  tested  by  years,  tried 
by  their  works,  and  exemplified  by  their  fruits ;  and  I  believe  it  will  be  found 
that  these  American  missionaries  have  done  more  toward  upholding  the  truth 
and  spreading  the  gospel  of  Christ  in  the  East,  than  any  other  body  of  men 
in  this  or  in  any  other  age." 

Mr.  William  T.  Stead  once  said,  "  How  many  American  citizens,  I  won- 
der, are  aware  that  from  the  slopes  of  Mount  Ararat  all  the  way  to  the  shores 
of  the  Blue  JEgean  Sea,  American  missionaries  have  scattered  broadcast  over 
all  the  distressful  land  the  seed  of  American  principles.  When  General 
Mosseloff,  the  director  of  foreign  faiths  within  the  Russian  empire,  visited 
Etchmiadzin  the  Armenian  patriarch  spread  before  him  the  map  of  Asia 
Minor,  which  was  marked  all  over  with  American  colleges,  American  churches, 
American  schools,  American  raissions.  They  (the  American  missionaries) 
are  busy  everywhere,  teaching,  preaching,  begetting  new  life  in  these  Asiatic 
races."  — From  "Memoirs  of  William  Goodell." 


XXII.    INDUSTRIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS 
CHANGES 

INDUSTRIALLY  Turkey  was  ages  behind  even  at  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century.  Practically  nothing 
modern  had  entered  the  country  from  without  and 
found  acceptance  there.  The  agricultural  implements  in 
use  were  of  the  same  primitive  character  as  those  of  two 
thousand  or  more  years  before.  The  plow  of  Abraham's 
day,  made  of  the  branch  of  a  tree  and  only  scratching  the 
surface  of  the  soil,  was  the  only  plow  known,  and  it  is  not 
by  any  means  extinct.  The  winds  of  the  plains  winnowed 
the  grain,  and  the  old  threshing  instruments  with  teeth  still 
performed  its  ancient  service  upon  the  threshing-floors  of 
earth. 

In  some  respects  the  people  were  more  jealous  to  guard 
their  methods  of  work  than  they  were  their  beliefs.  It 
was  found,  however,  that  when  a  man  had  enlarged  the 
horizon  of  his  thinking,  he  was  far  more  susceptible  to 
suggestions  as  to  his  method  of  living  and  working. 

Little  by  little  new  tools  were  brought  in  and  made  use 
of  by  native  carpenters.  Winnowing-mills  for  cleaning 
up  threshing-floors,  after  years  of  opposition,  won  favor 
and  are  now  found  everywhere.  In  some  sections  cotton- 
gins  run  by  water-power  have  brought  a  blessing  to  the 
farmers,  while  now  and  then  a  modem  plow  and  other  im- 
proved implements  are  finding  acceptance.  The  sewing- 
machine  is  found  in  almost  every  town  of  importance,  and 
the  kerosene  lamp  has  completely  changed  the  character 
of  multitudes  of  homes  and  greatly  multiplied  the  pos- 
sibilities of  intellectual  improvement  and  social  reform. 

f  2S3  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


The  first  electric  telegraph  instrument  ever  set  up  and 
operated  in  the  empire  was  exhibited  to  the  sultan  of 
Turkey  by  Cyrus  Hamlin,  the  missionary.  The  potato, 
the  tomato,  and  other  vegetables  have  been  introduced 
into  various  sections,  and  in  many  cases  have  become  regu- 
lar articles  of  diet  and  staples  in  the  market.  Space  for- 
bids mention  of  the  many  industrial,  mechanical,  and 
economic  improvements  which  have  entered  the  country 
through  the  influence  and  even  by  the  direct  exertions 
of  the  missionaries. 

All  this  in  the  earlier  years  was  incidental  to  the  mission 
work.  During  the  last  twenty  years  deliberate  plans  to 
teach  industries  have  been  made  by  the  missionaries  in  some 
of  the  leading  schools.  While  this  industrial  instruction 
was  begun  for  the  purpose  of  affording  an  opportunity  to 
worthy  but  needy  students  to  earn  their  way  through 
school,  the  experiment  proved  that  there  was  still  another 
advantage  not  second  to  this  in  importance,  and  that  was 
the  educational  value  of  practising  an  industry,  as  well  as 
an  economic  value  to  the  student  and  to  the  country.  In- 
dustrial plants  have  been  attached  to  some  of  the  higher 
educational  institutions  like  Anatolia  College  at  Marsovan, 
where  the  results  have  amply  justified  the  effort.  It  is 
surprising  to  see  how  rapidly  new  industrial  ideas  are 
disseminated  from  such  a  school. 

At  the  time  of  the  massacres  of  1895-96  a  large  number 
of  orphan  children,  both  boys  and  girls,  were  taken  in 
charge  by  the  missionaries.  These  numbered  many  thou- 
sands. Their  presence  and  needs  forced  the  adoption  of 
methods  by  which  they  could  earn  a  part,  at  least,  of  their 
own  support.  Various  industries  sprang  up  wherever  or- 
phans and  widows  were  found  gathered  into  homes  superin- 
tended by  the  missionary.     These  activities  include  cabinet 


[234  ] 


INDUSTRIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    CHANGES 

work,  carpentry,  tinsmithing,  blacksmithing,  baking,  em- 
broidery, lace-making,  with  many  other  trades,  besides  silk 
culture  and  farming.  As  the  children  are  bright  and  quick 
to  learn  the  use  of  tools  and  remarkably  good  at  imitation, 
marked  progress  is  made.  It  is  inevitable  that  out  of 
these  industrial  plants  will  come  new  ideas  and  new  indus- 
trial and  mechanical  impulses.  Many  of  the  young  men 
who  have  come  to  the  United  States  have  learned  trades 
which  they  will  carry  back  to  their  own  country  as  soon 
as  they  are  satisfied  that  hberty  is  given  them  to  return 
in  safety.  Probably  industrial  reform  has  not  taken  hold 
of  the  country  as  yet  with  the  same  force  as  other  re- 
forms. One  prominent  reason  for  this  is  that  all  industries 
are  discouraged  by  the  government.  We  can  expect  but 
moderate  results  until  there  is  a  change  in  this  respect 
in  the  policy  of  administration. 

Many  changes  in  the  construction  of  houses  have  taken 
place  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  Wooden  floors  are 
rapidly  coming  into  use,  and  windows  admitting  light 
and  often  with  a  few  panes  of  glass  are  found  even  in 
remote  villages.  The  one-story  buildings  in  agricultural 
villages  in  which  the  family  and  the  cattle  during  the  win- 
ter occupied  one  room,  are  having  a  second  story  added 
for  the  family  with  pure  air  and  with  plenty  of  light. 
This  one  change  alone  is  of  inestimable  value  in  lifting  up 
and  improving  a  people.  Whitewash  made  with  lime  is 
freely  used  upon  the  inside  of  the  living  rooms  and  much 
pride  is  exhibited  in  the  surroundings  of  the  home.  All 
this  indicates  a  decided  advance  in  family  life  and  in  the 
desire  for  what  is  civilized  and  wholesome.  Every  step 
forward  is  permanent.  The  industrial  advance  goes  hand 
in  hand  with  the  introduction  of  comforts  in  the  home. 
The  possibilities  for  rapid  enlargement  of  these  reform 

[  235  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


measures  are  innumerable  as  soon  as  freedom  of  action  and 
safety  to  life  and  property  are  assured. 

Enlightened  by  education,  chafing  under  the  restric- 
tions which  crushed  all  enterprise  in  that  country,  and 
knowing  about  the  large  freedom  and  the  wider  oppor- 
tunities open  to  all  in  the  United  States,  a  large  number  of 
Armenians  have  left  their  homes  in  Turkey  for  this  country. 
Emigration  began  largely  from  Harpoot,  but  has  ex-, 
tended  now  to  all  parts  of  the  country,  until  it  is  estimated 
that  there  are  now  in  the  United  States  more  than  thirty 
thousand  Armenians,  with  perhaps  as  many  Greeks,  Bul- 
garians, Albanians,  Turks  and  Syrians.  Many  of  these 
have  become  prosperous  business  men,  worthy  and  loyal 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  Others  are  farmers,  profes- 
sional men,  and  laborers  in  factories.  Some  have  returned, 
but  the  Turkish  government  is  suspicious  of  all,  and  espe- 
cially of  Armenians  who  have  been  in  this  country,  and  is 
likely  to  deport  them  if  they  succeed  in  passing  the  guards 
at  the  frontier.  In  proportion  to  their  numbers,  the  Protes- 
tants in  Turkey  have  furnished  by  far  the  largest  num- 
ber of  emigrants.  They  were  the  first  to  come  into  closest 
contact  with  the  American  missionaries  and  to  catch  the 
spirit  of  modern  education.  It  was  most  natural  that  they 
should  be  the  first  to  turn  their  attention  to  this  country 
as  the  land  of  the  greatest  opportunity.  Many  have  come 
here  to  secure  more  education  for  work  among  their  own 
people  at  home,  but  the  severity  of  Turkish  rule  has  hith- 
erto kept  the  most  of  these  here.  Many  Armenian  Protes- 
tant churches  and  congregations  have  been  formed  in  tliis 
country,  at  points  from  Boston  to  CaHfornia,  and  in  every 
case  the  pastors  and  preachers  were  trained  at  mission 
schools  in  Turkey.  If  it  prove  true  that  old  restrictions 
are  removed  and  safety  and  freedom  assured  to  these  exiles 


23G  ] 


INDUSTRIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    CHANGES 

from  their  fatherland,  no  doubt  the  greater  part  of  these 
will  return  with  joy,  carrying  back  with  them  not  only 
the  capital  they  have  secured,  but  the  enterprise  and  skill 
they  have  acquired  in  their  experience  here.  Many  of  these 
men  may  soon  become  a  great  force  in  aggressive  com- 
mercial Christian  and  educational  enterprises  for  their  own 
people. 

The  missionaries  set  out  to  aid  the  Armenians  and  other 
races  in  Turkey  to  an  intelhgent  and  reasonable  faith  and 
practise.  Separation  from  among  the  Armenians  was 
forced  upon  the  evangelicals,  as  we  have  already  seen,  but 
the  line  that  divided  the  Protestants  from  the  old  Grego- 
rian Church  did  not  mark  a  cleavage  between  those  who 
seriously  thought  upon  religious  matters  and  those  who 
were  blind  followers  of  the  Church.  Many  thoughtful  men 
remained  in  the  old  Church,  and  the  discussions  that  pro- 
duced so  much  disturbance  outside  were  carried  on  in 
greater  quietness,  even  among  the  clergy.  There  were 
two  reform  movements  proceeding  at  the  same  time;  one 
through  the  propagandism  of  the  Protestant  or  evangel- 
ical body,  separated  in  1846  from  the  old  Church  by  the 
action  of  the  Church  itself,  and  the  other  a  much  less 
marked  but  no  less  sincere  spirit  of  investigation  and  in- 
quiry continuing  within  the  old  Church.  The  general 
reform  movement  had  been  too  rapid  and  aggressive  for 
the  conservative  elements  of  the  Church,  but  after  the 
withdrawal  of  the  most  active  leaders  the  reform  spirit 
continued  to  develop  and  exert  its  influence. 

These  two  widely  divergent  parties  of  sixty  years  ago 
have  now  drawn  toward  each  other.  There  are  probably 
to-day  more  intelligent  evangelical  believers  within  the  old 
Gregorian,  Greek  and  Syrian  Churches  than  comprise  the 
entire  Protestant  body.  Separation  no  longer  takes  place 
in  any  marked  degree.     The  same  men  preach  occasionally 

[  237  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


in  both  Protestant  and  Gregorian  churches.  Evangehcal 
teachers  are  engaged  without  dissent  to  teach  Gregorian 
schools,  while  in  many  instances  there  are  more  Gregorian 
than  Protestant  pupils  in  Protestant  schools. 

Gregorian  young  men  preparing  themselves  for  orders 
in  their  Church  are  welcomed  to  the  Protestant  theo- 
logical schools  where  they  stand  upon  precisely  the  same 
footing  as  the  Protestant  youth  with  that  ministry  in  view, 
while  missionaries  are  invited  to  give  lessons  in  Gregorian 
theological  schools. 

The  Gregorian  Church,  as  a  whole,  while  yet  far  from 
the  goal  reached  by  many  of  its  strongest  supporters,  is 
making  advance  towards  an  intelligent  faith  and  practise. 
No  longer  do  the  leaders  believe  that  there  is  virtue  in  the 
forms  of  worship  or  salvation  in  submission  to  the  demands 
of  the  priesthood.  They  believe  that  true  religion  con- 
sists in  true  belief  and  right  living  and  to  this  end  they 
strive. 

It  is  also  evident  that  the  Mohammedans  have  been 
perceptibly  affected  by  reading  the  New  Testament ;  thou- 
sands of  copies  have  been  sold  them.  Whereas  heretofore 
they  had  interpreted  Christianity  by  the  lives  of  the  people 
among  them  who  bore  that  name,  they  are  now  studying 
the  sources  and  see  that  between  the  two  there  is  a  wide 
gulf.  They  have  been  compelled,  in  self-defense,  to  search 
their  own  religion  for  fundamental  truths  of  high  character 
in  order  to  prove  to  the  reformed  Christians  that  Islam 
is  not  as  bad  as  it  appears  in  the  lives  of  many  of  its 
adherents. 

In  a  word,  all  classes  in  the  empire  are  learning  that 
religion  is  a  matter  of  conviction  and  life,  and  not  of  form, 
and  that  it  manifests  its  true  character  in  the  acts  of  its 
followers,  and  not  in  the  boasted  declarations  of  its  leaders. 


[238  ] 


AMERICAN   RIGHTS 


It  has  been  stated  by  American  oflBcials  in  1895  and  1896  that  the  mis- 
sionaries, having  forced  themselves  into  Turkey  against  the  will  of  the  govern- 
ment, had  no  legal  rights  there  and  no  claim  to  protection.  The  officials 
who  made  these  statements  must  have  been  wilfully  ignoring  the  facts  of 
recent  history.  The  missionaries  were  supported  and  encouraged  by  the 
three  sultans,  Mahmud  the  strong,  Abd-ul-Medjid  the  weak,  and  Abd-ul- 
Aziz  the  weaker.  They  stand  on  a  firm  basis  of  treaties,  special  enactments, 
and  concessions,  —  a  basis  in  which  the  present  sultan,  with  all  his  acute- 
ness  and  his  hatred  of  mission  work,  could  find  no  flaw.  Had  it  been  pos- 
sible to  argue  with  a  shadow  of  plausibility  that  the  mission  was  against  the 
law,  or  that  it  was  not  guaranteed  by  enactments  inviolable  even  by  a  sultan 
protected  by  the  six  Powers,  the  property  would  have  been  destroyed  and 
the  mission  silenced.  The  attempt  was  made,  but  failed;  and  the  action 
of  officials  who  destroyed  mission  property  at  Kharput,  etc.,  was  ostensibly 
disowned. 

Further,  the  action  of  strong,  free  American  life  in  Turkey  must  always 
tend  to  strengthen  the  movement  there  towards  that  freer  and  more  elastic 
order  which  belongs  to  all  the  English-speaking  peoples.  But,  though  the 
mission  work  has,  undoubtedly,  exerted  a  great  influence  on  the  political 
situation  in  Turkey,  the  mission  policy  has  studiously  and  consistently  been 
non-pohtical,  and  has  zealously  inculcated  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance  and 
obedience  to  the  existing  government.  —  Pkof.  W.  M.  Ramsay,  D.  C.  L. 
in  Preface  of  "  Impressions  of  Turkey." 


XXIII.    AMERICAN  RIGHTS 

THE  right  to  exercise  their  functions  as  a  class  pos- 
sessing special  privileges  had  been  granted  to 
ecclesiastics  of  Christian  nations  by  the  voluntary 
extension  of  the  Edict  of  Toleration  of  1453  given  by  the 
Ottoman  government  after  the  fall  of  Constantinople. 
Turkish  usage  for  nearly  four  hundred  years  was  the 
warrant  for  the  entrance  of  American  missionaries  into 
the  country  and  their  assurance  of  immunity  from  official 
molestation. 

They  entered  without  diplomatic  negotiations  between 
the  United  States  and  Turkey.  Not,  indeed,  till  ten  years 
after  American  missionaries  had  begun  work  in  Turkey 
was  the  first  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  that 
country  concluded.  Previous  to  that  time  the  missionaries 
were  protected  by  England,  which  had  treaties  with  the 
Ottoman  government  conceding  extra-territorial  rights  to 
all  British  subjects.  The  Sublime  Porte  did  not  seem  to 
recognize  any  difference  between  an  English  subject  and 
an  American  citizen  for  all  were  "  Frank  Christians  "  to 
him,  hence  the  protection  afforded  was  ample. 

It  cannot  be  predicted  as  in  the  case  of  most  countries 
how  many  and  what  ordinary  international  rights  will 
be  conceded  to  foreigners  by  the  Ottoman  government. 
Rights  in  Turkey  are  based  not  upon  any  principle  of  in- 
ternational law  usually  prevailing  between  Christian  na- 
tions but  upon  special  treaties  which  bear  the  name  of 
"  Capitulations  "  and  "  Concessions."  Intercourse  of  the 
Christian  world  with  Mohammedan  countries  does  not  pro- 
ceed according  to  the  law  of  nations.     International  law 

16  [  241  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


as  practised  by  the  civilized  nations  of  Christendom  is 
an  outgrowth  from  the  communion  of  ideas  existing  be- 
tween them  and  rests  upon  a  common  conception  of  justice 
and  right.  Between  the  Mohammedans  and  the  Christian 
nations  of  Europe  and  America  there  exists  no  such 
common  idea  or  principle  from  which  could  result  a  true 
international  law.  Relations  one  with  the  other  have, 
therefore,  to  be  regulated  by  special  "  capitulation  "  or 
"  concession  "  granted  by  the  ruler  of  the  Mohammedan 
country. 

For  this  reason,  even  to  the  present  time,  the  law  of 
nations  as  known  and  practised  throughout  Christendom 
has  not  been  applied  in  the  relations  existing  between  Tur- 
key and  the  Christian  Powers.  But  ever  since  the  SubHme 
Porte,  under  stress  of  circumstances,  began  to  abandon 
most  reluctantly  and  by  slow  degrees  its  ancient  usages 
towards  other  nations,  and  imperfectly  to  adopt  those  of 
Christendom,  its  rule  of  international  conduct  has  gradu- 
ally approached  that  of  Europe. 

A  capitulation  on  the  part  of  the  Turkish  empire  is 
regarded  by  the  sultan  and  his  associates  as  a  concession 
to  foreigners,  which  they  have  a  right  at  any  time  to  annul 
or  destroy  if,  in  their  judgment,  such  annulment  or  de- 
struction is  for  their  advantage.  The  sultan  does  not 
wish  to  consider  a  capitulation  as  imposing  a  perpetual 
obligation  upon  him  or  his  officials.  It  is  a  privilege  ren- 
dered foreign  powers  which  can  be  withdrawn  without 
notice  and  without  explanation.  Only  in  view  of  these 
facts  can  the  treatment  of  missionaries  and  other  for- 
eigners by  the  officials  of  Turkey  be  understood. 

The  Porte  has  agreed  at  various  times  to  exercise  no 
preference  towards  any  of  the  states  with  which  it  has 
treaties,  but  to  make  them  all  share  alike  in  the  benefits 


242  1 


AMERICAN   RIGHTS 


of  the  provisions  contained  in  the  treaties  it  has  entered 
into  with  each.  In  all  its  treaties  of  commerce  since  1861, 
the  expressed  statement  is,  "  That  all  the  rights,  privileges, 
or  immunities  which  the  Sublime  Porte  now  grants  or 
may  hereafter  grant  to  the  subjects,  vessels,  commerce,  or 
navigation  of  any  other  foreign  power,  the  enjoyment  of 
which  it  shall  tolerate,  shall  be  hkewise  accorded  and  the 
exercise  of  the  enjoyment  of  the  same  shall  be  allowed,  to 
the  subjects,  ships,  commerce,  and  navigation  of  the  other 
powers."  It  is  evident  from  this  quotation  that  every 
nation  holding  treaty  with  Turkey  has  equal  rights  and 
privileges  with  those  of  any  nation  treating  with  the  Otto- 
man government. 

Without  dwelling  at  length  upon  the  various  treaties 
and  the  steps  which  led  to  their  formation,  it  will  suffice 
to  say  that  these  include,  among  many  other  things,  the 
following  privileges: 

Permission  to  foreigners  who  come  upon  Moslem  ter- 
ritory freely  to  navigate  the  waters  and  enter  the  ports 
of  the  same,  whether  for  devotion  and  pilgrimage  to  the 
holy  places,  or  for  trading  in  the  exportation  and  impor- 
tation of  every  kind  of  unprohibited  goods.  Exception 
is  made,  however,  with  reference  to  the  Hejaz  Province 
in  which  the  two  holy  cities  of  Islam  are  located. 

Freedom  to  follow  on  Moslem  ground  one's  own  habits 
and  customs,  and  perform  the  rites  and  fulfil  the  duties 
of  one's  own  religion. 

Right  of  foreigners  to  be  judged  by  the  ambassadors 
and  consuls  of  their  respective  governments  in  suits  both 
civil  and  criminal,  between  one  another,  and  the  obligation 
of  the  local  authorities  to  render  aid  to  the  consul  in 
enforcing  liis  decision  and  judgment  concerning  the  same. 

Inviolability   of   foreigners'   domiciles   and,   in   event   of 


243  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


urgent  necessity  for  arresting  a  delinquent,  obligation  of 
government  officials  not  to  enter  the  dwelling-place  of  a 
foreigner  without  having  previously  notified  the  ambas- 
sador or  consul,  and  unless  accompanied  by  him  or  his 
deputy. 

These  statements  are  sufficient  to  show  that  merchant, 
traveler,  and  missionary  in  Turkey  are  there  as  foreigners, 
and  as  such  they  and  their  domiciles  are  under  foreign 
protection.  They  have  the  privilege  of  holding  property 
and  of  buying  and  selling  the  same.  Mission  Boards  and 
foreign  companies,  being  foreign  corporations,  cannot  hold 
property  in  the  empire.  All  property  real  and  personal 
is  held  in  the  name  of  an  indiiadual.  Exception  is  made  in 
the  case  of  the  schools  which  have  a  firman  (imperial 
irade)  or  which  have  obtained  formal  recognition  from  the 
sultan,  in  which  case  the  institution  itself  holds  the 
property  in  its  own  name,  being  a  recognized  chartered 
institution. 

It  is  well  that  the  missionary  and  merchant  have  been 
and  still  are  independent  of  the  Turkish  officials,  for,  with 
the  ignorance  of  those  in  the  interior  and  their  readiness 
to  play  into  the  hands  of  every  rival  or  persecuting  agency, 
there  would  be  constant  liabihty  to  arrest,  imprisonment, 
and  even  deportation.  In  spite  of  the  extra-territorial 
laws,  missionaries  and  merchants  repeatedly  have  been 
put  under  arrest  for  imaginary  charges,  and  otherwise 
officially  annoyed.  These  difficulties  have  been  met  in 
quietness  and  overcome  without  loss  of  position  or  prestige. 
In  no  instance  has  a  missionary  been  arrested  for  an  actual 
crime  or  misdemeanor.  The  usual  charge  against  them 
is  that  they  are  plotting  against  the  government,  and 
the  officers  make  attempts  to  search  their  houses  for  docu- 
mentary evidence  and  for  arms.     These  various  evidences 


[  244  ] 


AMERICAN   RIGHTS 


of  hostility  have  not  seemed  to  strain  the  generally  friendly 
relations  existing  between  the  missionaries  and  the  local 
governments. 

Perhaps  it  should  be  stated  here  that  all  foreign  capital 
invested  in  the  country  is  held  in  the  same  way  and  has 
the  same  foreign  protection.  This  is  true  of  all  Catholic  in- 
stitutions, Russian  churches,  monasteries,  and  schools,  Ger- 
man orphanages,  and  mercantile  warehouses,  English  resi- 
dences, and  stores,  —  everything  that  belongs  to  foreigners 
representing  foreign  capital  is  under  foreign  protection. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  recognized  that  the  school, 
hospital,  or  church  which  occupies  one  of  these  foreign 
buildings  is  a  foreign  institution  and  as  such  has,  according 
to  the  Turkish  capitulations,  special  immunities  and  privi- 
leges. All  dealings  with  the  Turkish  government,  even  to 
the  present  time,  are  based  upon  this  supposition.  This 
docs  not  seem  strange  or  unnatural  to  the  Turkish  gov- 
ernment, which  permits  the  English,  German,  French, 
Austrian,  and  other  governments  to  have  their  own  post- 
offices  at  Constantinople,  Smyrna,  and  other  ports,  in 
which  they  sell  only  their  own  postage-stamps  and  conduct 
all  the  postal  business  they  can  procure. 

Under  treaty  rights  above  quoted,  every  concession  or 
privilege  granted  by  the  sultan  to  the  schools,  churches, 
hospitals,  or  institutions  belonging  to  England,  France, 
Russia,  or  any  other  country,  belongs  by  right  to  Ameri- 
can institutions.  The  fact  that  America  was  discriminated 
against  in  this  respect  for  many  years,  and  that  American 
institutions  were  thus  deprived  of  privileges  and  conces- 
sions which  had  been  conceded  to  similar  institutions  of 
several  European  powers,  is  well  known,  both  at  Constan- 
tinople, and  in  the  United  States.  Happily  these  matters 
have  now  been  adjusted. 


[  245  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


After  seven  years  of  negotiations,  in  1907  the  sultan 
finally  conceded  in  a  formal  manner  the  same  rights  and 
privileges  to  American  institutions  in  his  dominion  which 
had  already  been  granted  to  similar  institutions  of  France, 
Russia,  Germany  and  other  countries ;  but  as  yet  in  most 
cases  this  concession  exists  largely  in  form,  while  the  actual 
enjoyment  of  the  privileges  is  withheld.  At  the  same 
time  insuperable  obstacles  are  thrown  in  the  way  of  the 
purchase  of  real  estate  by  Americans  and  they  are  even 
forbidden  to  improve  property  which  they  have  already 
acquired.  It  is  only  by  eternal  vigilance  that  American 
interests  in  Turkey  can  be  safeguarded. 


246  ] 


RELIGIOUS  TOLERATION 


One  distinctive  feature  of  Islam  in  Turkey  —  and  this  applies  to  nearly 
all  Moslem  races  in  the  Ottoman  empire  except  the  Arabs  —  is  that  the  Turk 
does  not  know  the  language  of  his  sacred  book.  The  Koran  is  as  much  a 
sealed  book  to  the  Turk  as  the  Bible  is  to  the  peasant  Roman  Catholic  of 
Central  Europe.  He  knows,  even  if  he  is  a  peasant,  many  Arabic  words 
and  phrases,  but  although  he  may  read  the  Koran,  he  cannot  understand  it ; 
and  it  is,  to  the  Mohanunedan,  a  greater  impiety  to  attempt  to  translate  the 
Koran  from  the  Arabic,  than  it  was,  tiU  recent  years,  in  the  eyes  of  the  faithful 
but  ignorant  Romanist  to  translate  the  Latin  Bible  into  French  or  German. 
This  ignorance  of  Arabic  is  a  fact  even  among  the  more  or  less  educated 
Turks  of  the  capital  and  coast  cities.  It  is  very  rare  to  find  one  who  can  read 
Arabic  intelligently,  and  who  speaks  it  correctly.     Some  years  ago,  when 

K Effendi,  a  learned  Arab  Koord,  who  had  embraced  Christianity,  was 

called  before  the  highest  Mohammedan  court,  his  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
Arabic,  of  the  Koran  and  of  Mohammedan  law  and  traditions  completely 
confounded  and  silenced  those  who  would  have  been  his  judges.  —  From 
"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day." 


XXIV.    RELIGIOUS  TOLERATION 

A  T  the  beginning  of  mission  work  in  Turkey  the  gov- 
/-\  ernment  and  high  officials  seemed  indifferent.  They 
looked  upon  missionaries  as  only  another  sect  of 
Christians.  It  apparently  did  not  occur  to  them  that 
Christians  would  attempt  to  present  the  claims  of  their  re- 
ligion to  Moslems,  or  that  there  was  the  least  probability 
that  any  Mohammedan  would  listen  to  a  Christian  upon 
the  subject  of  religion.  For  centuries  no  Christian  in 
Turkey  had  made  any  such  attempt.  Indeed,  the  lives  of 
the  Christians  there  exhibited  little  that  was  attractive 
in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Turks,  therefore,  appeared  to  assume  that  the  mis- 
sionary movement  was  an  effort  to  reform  the  Christians 
or  to  divide  and  weak  n  them.  To  either  of  these  purposes 
or  results  the  si'\an  and  his  officers  saw  no  objections. 
To  the  Turks  all  who  are  not  Moslems  are  infidels,  and 
it  mattered  little  to  them  what  these  believed  since  they 
denied  faith  in  Mohammed. 

Contrary  to  expectations,  observing  Moslems  were  at- 
tracted by  the  fact  that  the  Protestants  made  use  of 
neither  pictures  nor  images  in  their  worship,  and  demanded 
purity  of  hfe,  honesty,  temperance,  and  truthfulness  in 
their  adherents.  This  was  to  them  a  new  phase  of  Chris- 
tianity, one  that  accorded  more  with  the  Mohammedan 
ideas  than  the  practises  of  the  Catholic  and  Oriental 
Churches  with  which  they  were  familiar.  Among  the  early 
inquirers  there  were  many  Mohammedans.  In  1835  Dr. 
Goodcll  of  Constantinople  wrote,  "  Almost  every  day  I 
am   ^^sitcd   by   Mohammedans.      I   could   very   profitably 

[  2id  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


devote  my  whole  time  to  them,"  In  cases  not  a  few,  in 
the  early  days,  the  Turkish  officials  were  not  slow  to  shield 
the  evangelical  Christians  from  the  persecutions  of  the 
officials  of  the  old  Churches.  As  it  did  not  occur  to  the 
sultan  that  there  was  any  danger  that  Moslems  could 
look  with  favor  upon  Christianity,  he  was  the  more  free 
to  grant  full  religious  liberty  under  the  importunity  of 
Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  the  British  ambassador. 

It  was  not,  therefore,  a  difficult  matter  for  Sultan  Abdul 
Medjid  to  issue,  November  3,  1839,  an  imperial  rescript 
named  the  Haiti  Sherif  of  Gul  Hane,  promising  to  protect 
the  life,  honor,  and  property  of  all  his  subjects  irrespec- 
tive of  race  or  religion.  At  that  time  the  sultan  was  eager 
to  enhst  and  hold  the  sympathy  of  European  rulers,  and 
believed  that  such  a  concession  would  materially  help 
toward  it.  Tliis  directly  pledged  the  protection  of  the 
imperial  government  to  every  subject  of  the  empire  in  the 
exercise  of  his  rights  as  a  citizen,  without  regard  to  reli- 
gion or  sect.  It  was  the  first  declaration  of  the  Turkish 
government  putting  Christians  upon  a  parity  with  Mo- 
hammedans before  the  law.  It  was  a  long  forward  step 
in  the  way  of  administrative  reform. 

In  August,  1843,  an  Armenian  youth,  some  twenty  years 
of  age,  was  beheaded  in  the  streets  of  Constantinople  and 
his  body  exposed  for  three  days,  because  he  had  once  de- 
clared himself  a  Moslem  and  then  later  recanted.  It  seems 
that  through  fear  of  punishment  this  young  man  had  ac- 
cepted Islam  and  left  the  country.  Later  he  returned 
and  resumed  the  practises  of  his  former  religion.  In 
spite  of  threats  and  promises,  he  adhered  to  his  ancestral 
faith  with  the  above  results.  Sir  Stratford  de  Redchffe 
did  all  in  his  power  to  save  his  hfe,  but  without  success. 

This  execution   aroused  the  ambassadors   of  England, 


50] 


RELIGIOUS     TOLERATION 


France,  Russia,  and  Prussia,  who  united  in  a  formal  de- 
mand upon  the  sultan  to  abolish  the  death  penalty  for  a 
change  of  religion.  Hitherto,  there  had  been  full  hberty 
to  change  any  and  all  non-Moslem  religions,  and  for  any 
one  to  abandon  the  faith  of  his  fathers  and  to  embrace 
Islam,  but  the  right  had  been  denied  to  a  Mohammedan 
to  depart  from  that  faith. 

Under  pressure  brought  to  bear  by  the  four  named  am- 
bassadors, led  by  the  British,  the  sultan  on  the  twenty- 
iBrst  of  March,  1844,  gave  a  written  pledge  as  follows: 
"  The  Sublime  Porte  engages  to  take  effectual  measures  to 
prevent,  henceforward,  the  persecution  and  putting  to 
death  of  the  Christian  who  is  an  apostate."  Two  days 
later  Abdul  Medjid,  in  a  conference  with  Sir  Stratford, 
gave  assurance  "  that  henceforward  neither  shall  Christian- 
ity be  insulted  in  my  dominions,  nor  shall  Christians  be  in 
any  way  persecuted  for  their  religion."  The  giver  of  these 
pledges  was  not  only  the  sultan  of  Turkey,  but  he  was  also 
the  caliph  of  the  Mohammedan  world.  The  year  1844  is 
memorable  in  Turkey  and  among  the  Mohammedans  for 
this  record  of  concessions  in  the  interests  of  rehgious 
liberty  in  Turkey,  and  for  all  races,  including  Moslems. 

In  1847  the  Protestants  had  no  standing  in  the  Turkish 
empire.  Nominally  they  were  under  the  protection  of  the 
patriarch  at  Constantinople,  but  in  fact  they  were  without 
protection  since  their  formal  excommunication  from  the 
Old  Church  in  the  previous  year.  When  their  separation 
had  been  made  complete,  it  was  necessary  that  some  recog- 
nition be  secured  for  them  from  the  sultan  himself  in  order 
that  they  might  continue  to  live  in  the  empire.  Through 
the  British  ambassador  negotiations  were  carried  on  which 
resulted  in  the  issuance  of  a  firman  by  the  grand  vizier 

declaring  that  "  Christian  subjects  of  the  Ottoman  gov- 

__ 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


ernment  professing  Protestantism  shall  constitute  a  sep- 
arate community  with  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
belonging  to  others,"  and  that  "  no  interference  whatever 
be  permitted  in  their  temporal  or  spiritual  concerns  on  the 
part  of  the  patriarch,  monks,  or  priests  of  other  sects." 
This  Protestant  charter  of  1847,  as  it  was  called,  covered 
all  Protestants  who  should  change  from  the  ancient 
Churches,  but  seemed  studiously  to  avoid  giving  recogni- 
tion to  the  possibility  of  Moslems  accepting  Protestantism. 
This  charter  was  not  issued  with  the  imperial  authority 
of  the  sultan,  but  only  under  the  ministerial  authority  of 
the  Porte.  It  was,  therefore,  liable  to  appeal  at  any  time 
by  either  the  sovereign  or  any  succeeding  ministry.  In 
November,  1850,  the  reigning  sultan,  Abdul  Medjid, 
granted  an  imperial  charter  to  the  Protestants  confirming 
their  distinct  organization  as  a  civil  community  and  guar- 
anteeing them  religious  rights  and  privileges  equal  to 
those  granted  all  other  religious  organizations. 

This  secured  in  perpetuum  to  the  Protestants  the  right 
to  choose  their  own  political  chief,  to  transact  business, 
to  worship,  to  marry,  to  bury,  and  to  perform  all  the 
functions  of  a  reUgious  organization  under  imperial  pro- 
tection. This  was  the  Magna  Charta  of  Protestantism 
in  Turkey,  and  is  called  "  The  Imperial  Protestant  Charter 
of  1850."  This  was  supplemented  in  1853  by  an  imperial 
firman  which  was  sent  to  aU  governors  in  the  provinces, 
as  well  as  to  the  head  men  of  the  Protestant  communities, 
requiring  that  the  charter  of  1850  be  strictly  enforced. 
The  above  were  issued  in  the  interests  of  the  Protestants 
alone. 

Besides  the  written  pledge  of  the  sultan  given  to  the 
ambassadors  in  1844,  there  was  no  charter  in  Turkey 
insuring  religious  liberty  to  Mohammedans,  except  as  the 

r  252  I 


RELIGIOUS     TOLERATION 


above  mentioned  Protestant  charters  admitted  of  such  an 
interpretation.  That  was  indefinite  and,  it  was  feared, 
did  not  guarantee  safety  to  a  Mohammedan  who  should 
change  his  faith.  The  European  nations  had  demanded 
that  the  death  penalty  for  Moslems  upon  changing  their 
rehgion  should  be  abolished. 

In  February,  1856,  Sultan  Med j  id  issued  what  is  called 
the  Magna  Charta  of  religious  liberty  in  Turkey.  It  is 
entitled  the  Hatti  Sherif  (Sacred  Edict)  or  Hatti  Huma- 
youn  (Imperial  Edict).  It  was  regarded  at  that  time  as 
guaranteeing  full  religious  liberty  to  all  Turkish  sub- 
jects of  every  creed  and  faith.  One  sentence  reads,  "  No 
subject  of  my  empire  shall  be  liindered  in  the  exercise  of 
the  religion  that  he  professes,  nor  shall  he  be  in  any  way 
annoyed  on  this  account.  No  one  shall  be  compelled  to 
change  his  religion."  Lord  Stratford  assumed  in  his 
correspondence  with  his  government  that  hereafter  no  one 
was  to  be  molested  on  account  of  his  religion  or  punished 
"  whatever  form  of  faith  he  denies." 

This  imperial  charter  was  recognized  by  Great  Britain, 
France,  Austria,  Russia,  Sardinia,  and  Turkey,  through 
their  representatives  who  met  in  Paris  in  the  same  year 
to  form  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  to  which  body  It  was  com- 
municated by  "His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Sultan"  and 
as  "  emanating  spontaneously  from  his  own  will."  How- 
ever, it  was  clearly  understood  that  no  right  was  conceded 
to  the  above  named  Powers  "  to  interfere  either  collectively 
or  separately  in  the  relations  of  His  Majesty,  the  Sultan, 
with  his  subjects  nor  In  the  Internal  administration  of  his 
empire."  This  left  Turkey  the  only  interpreter  of  the  docu- 
ment, and  as  sovereign  in  the  administration  of  her  own 
internal  affairs,  including  the  actual  granting  of  religious 
liberty. 


253  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


The  acts  of  government  and  the  behavior  of  Turkish 
officials  at  that  period  gave  the  impression  that  the  Porte 
meant  to  recognize  and  enforce  the  principles  of  religious 
hberty.  Many  Mohammedans  began  openly  to  purchase 
copies  of  the  Turkish  Bible  and  to  examine  the  claims  of 
Christianity.  In  September,  1857,  officials  of  the  govern- 
ment in  Constantinople  carefully  examined  a  Turkish 
gentleman,  Sehm  Effendi,  and  his  wife,  and  gave  a  certifi- 
cate that  they  had  become  Christians  without  compulsion, 
and  that  "  it  was  the  will  of  His  Maj  esty,  the  Sultan,  that 
every  Ottoman  subject,  without  exception,  should  enjoy 
entire  rehgious  freedom."  The  spirit  of  inquiry  spread 
and  a  converted  Turk  was  employed  as  an  evangelist  in 
Constantinople  and  was  unhindered  in  his  labors  among  his 
countrymen. 

In  1858  religious  meetings  were  held  with  Turks  and 
Koords  in  Eastern  Turkey.  In  1859  it  was  reported  that 
the  Turkish  governors  of  Sivas,  Diarbekr,  and  Caesarea, 
after  considering  cases  of  the  conversion  of  Moslems  to 
Christianity,  declared  publicly  that  a  Mohammedan  who 
became  a  Christian  would  not  be  molested.  In  I860  cases 
were  reported  from  the  Taurus  Mountains  of  converted 
Moslems,  and  of  others  who  were  attendant  upon  Chris- 
tian services.  One  of  these  was  a  member  of  the  gover- 
nor's coimcil.  In  the  vicinity  of  Aintab,  at  that  time,  some 
thirty  Mohammedans  were  in  attendance  upon  Christian 
services  at  one  outstation.  There  were  conversions  of 
Turks  reported  at  Diarbekr,  Harpoot,  and  Cassarea,  fol- 
lowed by  baptism,  and  without  disturbance. 

Up  to  1860  fifteen  Moslem  converts  had  been  baptized 
at  Constantinople.  One  of  these  was  a  Turkish  imam  or 
preacher.  In  an  examination  before  the  Minister  of  War 
this  imam  declared  that  there  were  forty  Turks  in  the  city 


254  ] 


RELIGIOUS     TOLERATION 


who  believed  as  he  did.  This  spirit  of  inquiry  was  wide- 
spread and  continued  until  1864.  There  was  no  doubt 
that  Christian  ideals  were  spreading  rapidly  among  the 
Turks,  and  it  is  thought  that  the  government  formed  the 
opinion  that  a  considerable  number  of  Mohammedans  were 
desirous  of  reforming  their  own  faith.  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz 
became  suspicious  and  fearful,  and  set  spies  to  watch  the 
missionaries.  On  a  Sunday  morning  in  Pera,  Constanti- 
nople, Selim  Effendi,  a  Turkish  evangehst,  and  some 
twenty  Turks  were  arrested  as  they  emerged  from  their 
places  of  worship  and  were  cast  into  prison.  Without  trial 
some  of  these  men  were  sent  into  exile. 

The  official  French  paper,  the  Journal  de  Constantino  pie  ^ 
in  its  issue  of  August  4,  1864,  published  a  leader  supposed 
to  emanate  from  Ali  Pasha,  the  grand  vizier,  in  which  the 
arrest  of  the  Christian  Turks  was  charged  to  the  alleged 
fact  that  the  zeal  of  the  missionaries  in  making  converts 
amounted  to  a  "  veritable  war,"  and  that  in  this  work 
of  proselyting  seductive  arts  were  employed.  These 
charges  were  investigated  by  the  Minister  of  the  United 
States,  and  by  the  British  ambassador,  and  not  only  were 
the  missionaries  exonerated  from  all  blame,  but  Earl  Rus- 
sell, the  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Aifairs  in  Great 
Britain,  strongly  defended  the  missionaries  and  demanded 
of  Turkey  that  she  maintain  in  her  dealings  with  her 
subjects  the  observance  of  the  true  principles  of  religious 
liberty.  Upon  the  demand  of  the  English  government 
the  exiled  Turks  were  permitted  to  return. 

It  was  at  once  understood  by  the  Moslems  that  for  them 
there  was  no  liberty  to  change  their  faith.  It  is  true  that 
none  were  arrested  upon  the  open  charge  of  changing  their 
religion,  but  every  conceivable  pretense  was  trumped  up 
against  them,  to  substantiate  which  any  number  of  IMoham- 


[  ^z:j5  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


medan  witnesses  could  be  procured,  and  the  Christian  Mo- 
hammedan was  sent  into  exile,  languished  in  prison,  or 
disappeared  from  view.  Frequently  missionaries  attempted 
to  follow  up  a  case  of  manifest  persecution,  but  they 
usually  came  upon  a  medical  certificate  that  the  man  had 
died  in  prison  from  fever  or  some  other  natural  cause,  or 
lost  all  traces  of  the  prisoner  through  frequent  transfers 
to  distant  parts.  Some  men  are  known  to  have  been  shot 
by  their  guard  in  the  transfer. 

In  the  Treaty  of  Berhn,  entered  into  in  1878  by  Eng^ 
land,  Austria,  Russia,  France,  Italy,  and  Turkey,  Arti- 
cle 2  states  that  absolute  religious  liberty  is  to  exist  in  all 
the  various  territories  mentioned  in  the  preceding  article 
"  including  the  whole  Turkish  empire."  The  sixty-second 
article  begins,  "  The  Subhme  Porte,  having  expressed  its 
willingness  to  maintain  the  principle  of  religious  liberty 
and  to  give  it  the  widest  sphere,  the  contracting  parties 
take  cogTiizance  of  this  spontaneous  declaration."  Then 
follow  specifications  of  how  the  sultan  is  to  carry  out  these 
principles. 

In  spite  of  these  reiterated  declarations,  it  is  e%ident 
that  the  Turkish  government  does  not  and  never  did  in- 
tend to  acknowledore  the  right  of  a  Moslem  to  become  a 
Christian.  A  high  official  once  told  the  writer  that  Turkey 
gives  to  all  her  subjects  the  widest  religious  hberty.  He 
said,  "  There  is  the  fullest  liberty  for  the  Armenian  to  be- 
come a  Catholic,  for  the  Greek  to  become  an  Armenian, 
for  the  Catholic  and  Armenian  to  become  Greeks,  for  any 
one  of  them  to  become  Protestant,  or  for  all  to  become 
Mohammedans.  There  is  the  fullest  and  completest  re- 
ligious liberty  for  all  the  subjects  of  this  empire." 

In  response  to  the  question,  "  How  about  Hberty  for 
the   Mohammedan    to   become   a   Christian  ? "   he   repHed, 


[256] 


RELIGIOUS     TOLERATION 


"  That  is  an  impossibility  in  the  nature  of  the  case.  When 
one  has  once  accepted  Islam  and  become  a  follower  of  the 
Prophet  he  cannot  change.  There  is  no  power  on  earth 
that  can  change  him.  Whatever  he  may  say  or  claim 
cannot  alter  the  fact  that  he  is  a  Moslem  still  and  must 
alwa3^s  be  such.  It  is,  therefore,  an  absurdity  to  say  that 
a  Moslem  has  the  privilege  of  changing  his  religion,  for  to 
do  so  is  beyond  his  power."  For  the  last  forty  years  the 
actions  of  the  official  and  influential  Turks  have  borne 
out  this  theory  of  religious  liberty  in  the  Ottoman  empire. 
Every  Moslem  showing  interest  in  Christian  things  takes 
his  life  in  his  hands.  No  protection  can  be  afforded  him 
against  the  false  charges  that  begin  at  once  to  multiply. 
His  only  safety  lies  in  flight. 


17  [  -57  ] 


THE  MACEDONIAN   QUESTION 


Mb.  G.  B.  Ravndal,  until  recently  United  States  consul  at  Beirut,  Syria, 
is  an  intelligent  and  sympathetic  witness  of  the  progress  of  events  in  that  part 
of  the  Turkish  empire.  He  writes,  with  special  reference  to  the  commercial 
aspects  of  missionary  advance,  that  "  the  Syria  of  to-day  cannot  be  compared 
with  the  Syria  of  twenty-five  years  ago.  Education  is  working  wonders, 
raising  the  standard  of  Uving,  multiplying  and  diversifying  the  requirements 
of  the  people,  developing  the  natural  resources  of  the  country,  and  increasing 
the  purchasing  capacity  of  the  individual.  lUiteracy  is  on  the  wane,  inde- 
pendent thought  is  in  the  ascendant.  We  have  printing-presses,  railroads, 
carriage-roads,  bridges,  postal  and  telegraph  routes.  Trade  is  increasing  in 
volume  and  variety,  and  the  United  States  is  getting  a  larger  and  larger  share 
of  it.  Our  country,  owing  primarily  to  the  efforts  of  our  missionaries,  is  near 
and  dear  to  a  large  portion  of  the  population,  not  only  of  this  country,  but  of 
the  entire  Levant  —  nay,  even  of  Persia  and  the  Sudan.  Through  our  college 
(at  Beirut),  with  its  School  of  Commerce  and  museums,  through  the  mission 
press,  the  industrial  academy,  and  the  experimental  farm,  missionaries  have 
become  ambassadors  of  American  trade,  and  as  the  foreign  commerce  of  the 
Levant  swells  into  larger  proportions  —  it  is  yet  in  its  infancy  —  the  United 
States  is  getting  a  surer  foothold  in  the  near  East."  He  also  speaks  of  his 
gratification  in  witnessing  the  increasing  introduction  of  American  machinery 
into  Syria,  such  as  reaping,  threshing,  and  milhng  machines,  and  expresses 
his  confidence  that  "  Western  Asia  will  before  long  become  a  market  for  our 
agricultural,  irrigation,  and  other  machinery,  which  no  manufacturer  at 
home  will  despise  or  ignore."  He  refers  to  the  School  of  Commerce  recently 
established  in  connection  with  the  American  College  at  Beirut,  with  its 
students  dravra  from  a  widely  extended  region,  reaching  from  Trebizond  on 
the  north  to  Khartmn  on  the  south,  and  from  Albania  in  the  west  to  Teheran 
in  the  east,  as  an  enterprise  which  is  destined  to  "  play  a  leading  part  in  the 
economics  of  the  Levant."  There  is  a  business  ring  to  testimonies  like  these 
just  quoted  from  men  of  official  position  in  the  East,  which  surely  cannot  be 
credited  to  missionary  partiality  or  misjudgment,  and  as  such  we  are  glad  to 
have  the  privilege  of  presenting  them.  —  James  S.  Dennis,  in  "Christian 
Missions  and  Social  Progress." 


XXV.    THE   MACEDONIAN  QUESTION 

THE  Albanians  in  Macedonia  have  been  for  more 
than  a  generation  a  source  of  terror  and  a  tower 
of  strength  to  the  Turkish  government.  They  num- 
ber perhaps  two  milhon  in  the  country  and  occupy  a 
region  remote  from  the  capital,  and  difficult  to  control. 
They  have  never  been  fully  loyal  to  the  sultan  or  any  other 
ruler,  and,  occupying  as  they  do  the  fastnesses  of  the 
mountains  along  the  western  borders  of  Macedonia,  they 
have  enjoyed  unusual  liberty.  They  have  been  referred 
to  as  the  least  civilized  of  the  European  races.  They  are 
warlike  by  inheritance  and  profession,  and  chng  with  an 
intense  devotion  to  their  Albanian  tongue. 

They  claim  that  they  are  direct  descendants  from  the 
ancient  Pelasgi  and  are  proud  of  their  lineage.  An  Al- 
banian prince  told  the  writer  not  long  since  that  he  was  of 
the  same  race  that  gave  Alexander  the  Great  to  the  world. 
They  call  themselves  Skipeter  or  "  the  Eagle  People." 
The  majority  of  the  race  have  outwardly  accepted  INIoham- 
medanism  but  in  most  cases  this  is  largely  in  form  only. 
As  the  Koran  is  permitted  to  circulate  in  Turkey  only 
in  the  Arabic  tongue,  and  as  few  Albanians  are  acquainted 
with  that  language,  they  have  little  knowledge  of  Islam, 
and  perhaps  less  love  for  it.  Many  of  them  are  nominal 
members  of  the  Greek  Church. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Turkish  government,  through 
the  love  of  the  Albanians  for  war,  has  brought  many  of 
them  into  direct  service  to  the  state.  Some  of  the  best 
and  bravest  officers  in  the  Turkish  army  are  Albanians. 
Mohammed  Ali  Pasha,  who  reformed  Egypt  and  founded 

r^Gll 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


the  present  khedival  house,  was  an  Albanian.  They  have 
risen  to  the  highest  positions  of  influence  and  power  in 
the  empire,  not  a  few  of  them  serving  in  the  sultan's  cabi- 
net. This  reveals  the  native  strength  of  this  people,  and 
the  reason  why  the  sultan  jealously  guards  the  race  in 
his  attempt  to  hold  them  true  to  Mohammedanism  and 
loyal  to  himself.  Their  very  strength  of  character  makes 
them  bold  and  fearless  in  the  fastnesses  of  their  remote 
mountain  home,  and  hard  to  subdue ;  but  when  they  declare 
allegiance  to  a  cause  or  a  person  they  cannot  be  diverted 
by  fear  or  favor. 

This  sturdy  people  with  high  codes  of  honor  in  their 
dealings  with  each  other  and  with  strangers  number  about 
one-tenth  of  the  Mohammedan  population  of  the  Turkish 
empire.  Until  within  a  few  years  they  have  been  regarded 
as  inaccessible  to  the  missionary  and  to  the  Christian 
worker.  Recently  mission  work  in  Macedonia  has  come 
into  contact  with  them  and  a  few  have  embraced  Chris- 
tianity. Nearly  twenty  years  ago  a  school  for  girls  was 
started  in  Kortcha,  one  of  their  chief  cities,  conducted 
by  Albanian  Christians,  and  in  the  Albanian  language. 
Some  of  the  chief  men  gladly  put  their  daughters  in  the 
school,  but  were  later  compelled  by  the  sultan  to  with- 
draw them. 

The  Albanians  constitute  one  of  the  vital  race  problems 
of  Macedonia.  They  are  eager  for  modern  education  and 
are  restless  under  the  restrictive  and  opJ)ressive  rule  of 
the  Porte.  If  they  become,  as  a  race,  members  of  the 
Greek  Church,  as  many  have  already  become,  their  Influence 
will  be  cast  against  the  rule  of  the  sultan  and  in  favor  of 
outside  protection.  If  the  Turks  can  hold  them  to  a  ser- 
vile Mohammedanism,  they  will  greatly  strengthen,  the 
power  of  the  throne  at  Constantinople.     Upon  the  other 


262  ] 


THE    MACEDONIAN    QUESTION 


hand,  if  they  insist  upon  a  modern  education  for  their 
children,  and  enter  upon  an  impartial  investigation  of  the 
merits  of  Protestant  Christianity,  there  is  no  standard 
for  measuring  their  influences  on  the  other  races  of  Mace- 
donia. Albanians  in  large  numbers  are  coming  to  the 
United  States,  and  here  they  seek  education  for  themselves 
and  plead  eagerly  for  assistance  that  they  may  be  able 
to  give  greater  educational  and  religious  privileges  to  their 
children  at  home. 

This  race  is  but  a  part  of  the  Macedonian  question 
which  has  been  agitating  Turkey  and  Europe  for  the 
past  few  years.  If  the  demands  of  the  European  Powers 
are  acceded  to,  the  hold  of  the  sultan  upon  Macedonia 
will  be  weakened,  although  not  broken.  It  has  been  well 
known  for  the  last  twenty  years  that,  with  every  weakening 
of  the  sultan's  power,  strength  has  never  returned  to  it. 
Should  there  be  a  withdrawal  of  Turkish  rule  from  Mace- 
donia, including  Albania,  it  would  remove  all  restraint 
from  the  Albanians  and  give  them  full  freedom  to  educate 
their  children  and  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  their  consciences.  Under  these  circumstances  few 
would  probably  remain  Mohammedans  for  any  length  of 
time.  To  Turkey  these  conditions  contain  mighty  possi- 
bilities, nor  are  they  without  deep  significance  to  the 
entire  Moslem  world.  It  may  be  that  we  are  to-day  wit- 
nessing a  break  in  the  Moslem  ranks  that  have  hitherto 
presented  a  solid  wall  of  opposition  to  every  Christian 
approach.  There  is  no  phase  of  the  present  Turkish  ques- 
tion which  is  more  important  or  significant. 

Besides  the  Albanians,  Macedonia  has  three  most  dis- 
cordant national  elements  consisting  of  Turks,  Bulgarians, 
and  Greeks.  The  Bulgarians  are  eager  for  the  extension 
of  the  Bulgarian  principality  south  to  the  sea,  while  the 

f  263  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Greeks  desire  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  Greece 
eastward  to  include  that  part  of  Macedonia  in  which  a 
large  number  of  Greeks  dwell.  The  Turks  represent  the 
government  and  are  strenuously  opposed  to  both  these 
tendencies,  and  they  express  their  opposition  in  every  kind 
of  repressive  measure  known  to  the  Porte.  To  this  is 
added  the  rivalry  and  hostile  jealousies  existing  between 
the  Greek  and  Bulgarian  churches  in  the  country,  and 
the  resultant  condition  of  affairs  is  about  as  bad  as  well 
can  be. 

Marauding  parties,  formed  and  armed  in  many  in- 
stances upon  the  Bulgarian  side  of  the  border,  have  pene- 
trated into  Macedonia,  terrorizing  all  classes  and  clashing 
with  the  Turkish  troops.  These  have  operated  for  several 
years.  The  object  of  these  expeditions  apparently  was  to 
arouse  the  attention  of  the  world  to  the  misgovemment 
of  the  country  and  so  secure  outside  intervention,  and  con- 
sequent reform.  Their  purpose  has  been  offset  by  the  law- 
lessness of  the  Turkish  soldiers,  and  between  the  two  the 
innocent  citizen  and  peasant  are  ground  almost  to  powder. 
There  are  also  Greek  bands  of  marauders  who  strike  terror 
to  the  regions  in  which  they  operate. 

It  is  to  restore  some  degree  of  order  and  to  prevent  the 
country  from  running  into  absolute  lawlessness,  that  the 
European  Powers  have  endeavored  to  unite  and  secure 
for  Macedonia  a  systematic  and  safe  administration.  If 
the  Powers  succeed  in  this  effort,  we  may  reasonably  hope 
that  the  hold  of  Turkey  upon  Macedonia  will  soon  begin 
to  break  and  that  ultimately  all  that  section  of  Europe 
will  be  free  of  Turkish  rule.  The  sultan  will  not  yield 
those  rich  and  fertile  provinces  of  his  empire  willingly, 
but  he  is  powerless  to  resist  the  demands  of  the  combined 
Powers  of  Europe. 

[  264  1 


GENERAL  POLITICAL  SITUATION 


There  are  no  indications  of  the  presence  of  the  "Young  Turk"  secret 
organization,  but  there  is  a  growing  discontent  with  the  present  regime.  This 
is  caused  (1)  by  individual  dissatisfaction  with  injustice,  increased  taxation 
and  harsh  military  service;  (2)  by  the  racial  ambition  of  Arabic-speaking 
Moslems  who  regard  the  Turk  as  a  barbarian  and  of  doubtful  orthodoxy, 
and  are  restive  under  Turkish  rule  which  allots  them  few  positions,  civil  or 
mihtary.  Many  Arabs  wish  the  caliphate  assumed  by  one  of  their  race  and 
would  bring  the  capital  of  Islam  near  if  not  into  Arabia,  its  cradle.  This 
politico-rehgious  aspiration  is  ascribed  to  Midhat  Pasha  and  has  been  fostered, 
since  his  day,  by  pamphlets  widely  scattered  and  by  secret  societies.  (3)  Dis- 
content also  results  from  impotent  rage  at  the  waning  poUtical  power  of  Islam 
under  Turkish  leadership.  Moslem  supremacy  has  been  lost  in  Mount  Leba- 
non, in  most  European  provinces,  in  part  of  Asia  Minor,  in  Cyprus,  Crete, 
Egypt,  and  is  now  imperilled  in  North  Africa.  (4)  Another  cause  of  discontent 
is  reaUzation  of  the  fact  that  universal  corruption  is  sapping  the  vitality  of  the 
empire  and  dissipating  its  resources.  (5)  To  these  causes  is  added  knowl- 
edge that  other  lands  have  secured  improved  material  conditions  and  equable 
justice  without  interference  with  religious  observances.  This  embitters  by 
contrast  their  present  situation.  Emigration,  which  has  taken  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  Christians  from  Syria,  has  lately  begun  to  draw  from  the  Moslems. 
The  letters  of  the  absent  and  the  influence  of  those  who  have  retm^ned  are 
factors  of  unrest.  That  any  or  all  of  these  elements  of  political  ferment  will 
produce  any  revolt  is  improbable.  No  leader  could  expect  success  with  an 
unarmed  and  poor  set  of  followers  nor  could  he  unify  and  harmonize  hostile 
sects.  —  From  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day." 


XXVI.  GENERAL  POLITICAL  SITUATION 

THE  political  situation  in  Turkey  can  well  be  summed 
up  as  "  A  fifteenth  century  Oriental  government 
in  conflict  with  modem  civilization."  This  con- 
dition is  aggravated  by  the  existence  of  European  rivalries 
and  jealousies  and  Mohammedan  fanaticism.  The  combi- 
nation of  these  forces  is  hard  to  analyze  and  its  results 
even  more  difficult  to   forecast. 

The  first,  and  in  some  respects  the  most  evident,  diffi- 
culty especially  manifest  to  those  who  reside  in  the  empire, 
is  the  intellectual,  social,  and  moral  upheaval  caused  by 
the  influence  of  Christian  civihzation  upon  the  people  as 
a  whole.  New  and,  to  that  country,  startUng  ideas  of 
religious  freedom,  human  rights,  and  the  true  functions  of 
a  government,  have  taken  hold  upon  large  numbers  out 
of  every  nationality  and  religion.  So  long  as  the  govern- 
ment of  Turkey  is  conducted  according  to  Oriental  fifteenth 
century  ideals,  it  is  inevitable  that  there  must  be  a  conflict, 
trying  both  to  the  government  and  to  the  governed.  So 
long  as  the  people  were  densely  ignorant,  knowing  little 
of  the  world  outside  and  far  less  of  the  principle  that 
governs  civilized  people,  they  made  little  complaint.  As 
enlightenment  came  to  them  from  various  sources,  it  was  in- 
evitable that  unrest  should  also  come.  Had  Turkey  been 
able  to  adjust  herself  to  the  new  situation  and  move  for- 
ward in  her  administrative  methods,  keeping  pace  v/ith 
the  growing  intelligence  of  her  subjects,  she  might  have 
become  one  of  the  strong,  compact,  and  thrifty  nations 
of  the  East. 

[267] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


She  chose  otherwise  and  began  early  to  devise  and  put 
into  execution  plans  for  the  suppression  of  general  edu- 
cation. At  the  same  time,  the  press  was  throttled  by  a 
severe  censorship  and  all  who  were  suspected  of  thinking 
for  themselves  came  under  a  ban.  Turkey,  in  her  feeble 
way,  attempted  to  follow  the  lead  of  Russia  in  this  respect, 
and  did  so  undoubtedly  under  Russian  advice.  The  fail- 
ure to  protect  property  has  discouraged  the  investment 
of  capital.  Industries  languished  and  have  almost  died 
out.  Inevitably  enterprising  men  would  seek  to  emigrate. 
When  once  outside  the  country  few  incline  to  return  so 
long  as  present  conditions  continue.  In  fact,  the  govern- 
ment discourages  the  return  of  any  who  have  been  abroad, 
fearing  the  new  ideas  they  acquired  in  Europe  and  the 
United  States.  At  the  present  time  the  government  prac- 
tically forbids  the  return  to  Turkey  of  all  who  have  been 
in  civilized  countries,  endeavoring  to  maintain  a  wall  of 
seclusion  against  all  ideas  of  modem  civilization.  Turkey 
calls  such  people  dangerous  characters  and  throws  them 
into  prison  as  revolutionists. 

This  dangerous  class  includes  Albanians,  Turks,  Greeks, 
Syrians,  and  Armenians.  In  most  respects  among  these 
are  found  the  most  enhghtened  people  of  the  country. 
Some  of  the  educated  Turks  have  obtained  their  new  ideas 
from  sources  within  the  country,  while  others  have  studied 
in  Europe.  Many  of  them  have  come  into  more  modem 
ideas  of  a  government  and  its  functions,  and  would  gladly 
see  changes  made  which  would  bring  Turkey  into  harmony 
with  Europe.  These  are  called  the  new  Turks,  and  are  clas- 
sified roughly  together  as  the  "  New  Turk  party."  They 
are  not  revolutionists  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  word. 
They  find  no  favor  with  the  reigning  sultan,  and  are 
exiled  and  even  executed  without  trial.     The  party,  al- 


[  268  ] 


GENERAL    POLITICAL    SITUATION 


though  apparently  not  organized,  is  a  fact,  and  the  spirit 
of  reform  is  spreading  among  the  Turks.  Measures  to 
suppress  this  movement  are  generally  secret  and  are  seldom 
reported  abroad.  A  Turk  once  told  the  writer  that  "  when 
outrages  are  perpetrated  against  the  Christians,  the  whole 
world  lifts  up  its  hands  in  horror  and  the  sultan  is  ordered 
to  cease ;  but  when  the  poor  Turks  are  the  victims,  where 
is  there  a  voice  raised  in  their  defense?  " 

Naturally  the  Turkish  government  fears  the  Armenians 
since  they  have  made  such  rapid  progress  in  education 
during  the  last  eighty  years.  Since  Bulgaria  became 
practically  an  independent  state,  Turkey  has  tightened 
its  hold  upon  Armenia.  At  the  same  time,  the  Armenians, 
seeing  the  great  freedom  and  prosperity  enjoyed  by  the 
Bulgarians,  have  cherished  dreams  of  the  time  when  they 
too  might  be  free.  While  all  Armenians  have  at  times 
indulged  in  such  visions,  but  few  have  ever  seriously  con- 
sidered the  proposition  a  practicable  one.  Only  the  most 
rattle-headed  of  them  declare  such  a  plan  possible  and 
only  such  are  advocating  revolutionary  measures  to  that 
end.  Armenia  (a  name  not  permitted  in  Turkey)  can 
hardly  be  erected  into  an  independent  nation,  although 
it  would  be  impossible  to  convince  Sultan  Hamid  II  of  that 
fact.  He  governs  as  if  he  expected  hourly  that  Armenia 
may  rise  and  demand  its  freedom,  although  the  Moham- 
medans are  everywhere  greatly  in  the  majority. 

There  are,  however,  a  considerable  number  of  Armenians 
who  have  been  driven  to  desperation  by  the  injustice  and 
cruelty  of  the  government.  Aware  that  they  are  power- 
less to  reform  Turkey,  they  declare  their  inability  longer 
to  endure.  These  resort  to  acts  of  desperation  with  the 
hope  that  Europe  will  become  aroused,  as  it  did  in  the  case 
of  Bulgaria,  and  interfere  in  the  interests  of  the  oppressed. 

[  :^G9  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Small  revolutionary  parties  called  by  various  names  have 
been  organized  in  Macedonia,  in  Armenia,  and  especially 
in  border  countries  like  Bulgaria,  Russia,  and  Persia,  for 
the  secretly  avowed  purpose  of  compelling  the  attention 
and  Interference  of  Europe.  They  have  stirred  the  Turks 
to  acts  of  extreme  cruelty,  but  have  egregiously  failed 
to  accomplish  their  purpose. 

These  internal  affairs  which  disturb  and  vex  the  people 
almost  beyond  endurance  are  allowed  to  continue,  un- 
checked by  European  Interference,  because  the  nations 
of  Europe  cannot  agree  to  act  together,  nor  can  they  trust 
any  one  to  act  for  the  rest.  England's  influence,  which  was 
supreme  when  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  was  signed,  has  been 
superseded  by  Russia,  and  she  in  turn  has  taken,  more 
recently,  second  place  to  Germany.  The  sultan,  most 
astute  of  all,  is  able  to  set  rivalry,  jealousy,  and  suspicion 
against  suspicion,  jealousy  and  rivalry,  and  while  they 
quarrel  over  methods  and  precedents,  he  works  his  will. 
No  diplomat  Is  able  to  cope  with  the  sultan  of  Turkey, 
because  his  statements  cannot  be  relied  upon,  while  his 
promises  are  meaningless.  Every  ambassador  and  minis- 
ter learns  this  to  his  sorrow,  but  Is  powerless  to  meet  the 
conditions  created  by  it.  To  call  the  sovereign  of  a  state 
to  which  he  is  accredited  "  a  falsifier  "  would  not  be  dip- 
lomatic, and  might  strain  existing  relations,  and  to  meet 
falsehood  with  falsehood  Is  against  the  principles  of  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Christian  nations.  While  the  foreign 
legations  are  considering  these  problems  the  sultan  con- 
tinues his  own  way. 

The  present  unsettled  condition  in  Russia  and  the  de- 
feat of  that  country  by  the  Japanese  will  undoubtedly 
weaken  her  influence  over  the  sultan.  The  emperor  of  Ger- 
many, while  maintaining  friendly  relations  with  Hamid  II, 


[  270  ] 


GENERAL    TOLITICAL    SITUATION 

does  not  seem  to  attempt  to  restrain  him  in  his  acts  of 
violence  against  his  own  subjects.  If  he  would,  it  is  be- 
lieved by  many  that  Emperor  William  might  accomplish 
much  in  bringing  about  reform  measures  in  Turkey,  if  the 
other  Powers  of  Europe  would  permit  him  to  do  so. 

Financially  Turkey  seems  to  be  upon  the  verge  of  bank- 
ruptcy. Her  system  of  assessing  taxes,  paralyzing  in- 
dustry, and  her  method  of  often  collecting  from  the  poor 
taxpayer  many  times  the  amount  due,  have  impoverished 
the  country.  The  occasional  general  massacres  in  different 
sections  have  been  terribly  destructive  to  national  wealth, 
striking  directly  at  its  sources.  The  strained  political 
situation  is  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  economic  con- 
ditions of  that  country,  accompanied  by  the  unjust  ad- 
ministration of  the  government.  If  Turkey  could  afford 
her  subjects  of  all  classes  a  safe  and  just  government,  it 
might  soon  be  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  thrifty 
countries  in  Asia,  comparing  favorably  with  the  govern- 
ments of  Europe. 

What  the  future  will  bring  forth  for  Turkey  no  one  can 
predict.  Some  twelve  years  ago  the  writer  asked  an  old 
and  experienced  diplomat  at  Constantinople  what  was  to 
be  the  outcome  of  the  then  threatening  conditions  in  the 
country.  His  reply  was,  "  I  have  studied  Turkey  from 
within  and  without  for  tliirty  years,  and  have  carefully 
weighed  the  diverse  forces  that  are  operating  in  the  em- 
pire. I  have  come  to  one  clear  and  final  conclusion  which 
I  am  certain  will  stand  the  test  of  time,  and  that  is  that 
I  do  not  know  anytliing  about  what  the  future  will  pro- 
duce here." 

One  thing  is  sure,  the  methods  of  government  wliich 
were  successful  there  six  centuries  ago  cannot  be  con- 
tinued indefinitely.     Modern  thought  and  ideas  will  not 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


submit  in  patience  and  quietness  forever  to  the  oppressive 
measures  of  the  middle  ages.  Dawn  is  breaking  and  it  is 
useless  for  the  night  to  rail  at  its  coming.  IntelHgent 
beUef  will  win  in  the  end,  and  justice  and  righteousness 
must  triumph.  This  may  cost  the  shedding  of  blood,  but 
indications  do  not  point  that  way.  A  mighty  revolution 
is  already  in  progress  which  will  accomplish  its  purpose, 
in  time,  by  the  simple  laws  of  God  wrought  out  by  the 
lives  and  acts  of  intelUgent  and  righteous  men.  The  forces 
of  reform  are  in  operation,  not  only  in  institutions,  but 
in  the  hearts  and  in  the  longings,  and  in  the  purposes,  of 
men  of  aU  classes  and  races.  It  propagates  itself  as  it 
moves  from  coast  to  coast,  and  from  plain  to  mountain 
fastness,  gaining  in  force  and  depth  and  breadth  with 
every  decade.  Present  conditions  cannot  indefinitely  con- 
tinue. Times  may  be  worse  before  they  are  better,  but  even 
greater  changes  are  inevitable  and  at  no  remotely  distant 
day.  God  is  in  his  heavens  and  he  is  guiding  the  affairs  of 
the  Turkish  empire. 


272] 


CONSTITUTIONAL  GOVERNMENT 


In  the  Mohammedan  dominions  of  Turkey  missionary  institutions  have 
graduated  men  who  have  in  many  instances  occupied  government  positions 
on  account  of  their  superior  capabihties,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Christian 
officials  are  greatly  handicapped  by  Moslem  prejudices.  In  the  case  of  the 
Bulgarian  graduates  of  Robert  College,  it  was  said  in  1902,  by  a  missionary 
of  the  American  Board  then  residing  at  Sofia,  that  "  since  the  beginning  of  the 
national  administration  of  Bulgaria,  in  1878,  there  has  been  no  government 
ministry  without  one  at  least,  and  often  two  or  three,  Robert  College  members. 
The  present  Secretary  of  the  Cabinet,  whose  abihty  has  preserved  his  position 
for  him  during  ten  years,  and  imder  eight  successive  ministries,  is  one  of  these 
men."  The  judge  of  the  supreme  court,  besides  the  mayor  of  Sofia,  and 
many  others  in  diplomatic,  judicial,  or  clerical  posts,  are  all  Robert  College 
men.  The  Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beirut  has  graduated  men  who,  as 
government  appointees,  occupy  positions  of  responsibility,  and  exert  no  httle 
influence  in  the  administration  of  political  and  judicial  affairs  in  Syria, 
especially  in  the  Mount  Lebanon  government.  Its  medical  graduates, 
moreover,  are  to  be  found  in  the  military  and  civil  service  in  almost  all  sections 
of  Asiatic  Turkey,  and  notably  under  the  Egyptian  administration.  —  James 
S.  Dennis  in  "Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress." 

Many  causes  have  combined,  many  factors  are  present,  many  influences 
have  turned  the  hearts  of  men  through  that  empire  [Turkey] ;  but  if  we  ask 
ourselves  what  the  governing  and  final  factor  is  which  has  brought  about  the 
first  of  the  world's  bloodless  revolutions,  which  has  seen  a  people  divided 
and  dissevered  by  creed,  by  race,  by  language,  by  every  conceivable  differ- 
ence which  can  separate  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men,  suddenly  act 
together  —  we  do  ill  if  we  forget  that  for  eighty  years  the  American  mission- 
aries have  been  laying  the  foundations  and  preaching  the  doctrine  which 
makes  free  government  possible.  —  Talcott  Williams,  LL.D.,  editor 
Philadelphia  Press,  in  an  address  at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  15,  1908. 


XXVII.    CONSTITUTIONAL 
GOVERNMENT 

1ATE  in  1902  a  plan  for  administrative  reform  in 
.  the  Adrianople,  Salonica,  and  Monastir  Provinces 
of  European  Turkey  was  published.  These  included 
Macedonia  where  disorders  and  atrocities  had  become 
chronic.  Under  this  measure  the  valis  or  governors  were 
given  new  powers  and  an  inspector  general  was  appointed 
reporting  directly  to  the  grand  vizier.  The  Powers  com- 
pelled the  addition  of  a  financial  commission  representing 
them,  which  should  examine  the  budget  of  the  three  vi- 
layets and  recommend  improvements.  With  the  aid  of 
three  Ottoman  inspectors,  the  commission  was  to  super- 
vise the  provincial  finances  and  in  other  ways  bring  relief 
to  the  untoward  conditions  of  the  inhabitants.  The  gen- 
darmerie was  put  under  a  foreign  officer  with  an  Italian 
general  in  command,  and  much  improved  in  efficiency. 

A  three  per  cent  increase  in  the  customs  duties  provided 
funds  for  securing  other  reforms.  These,  however,  it  must 
be  said,  existed  largely  upon  paper.  While  the  Powers 
ostensibly  had  some  responsibility  and  authority  in  the 
administration  of  affairs  in  Macedonia,  the  sultan  was  able 
in  ways  so  well  known  to  himself  to  thwart  their  exercise 
of  it  while  the  discordant  elements  in  Albania  and  Mace- 
donia made  conditions  for  all  classes  more  intolerable  than 
ever. 

Again,  early  in  1908,  the  Powers  gave  hesitating  atten- 
tion to  this  plague-spot  of  Europe  as  one  united  cry  of 
distress  arose  from  all  tongues,  the  Turkish,  Greek,  Bul- 
garian, and  Albanian  alike.     It  is  impossible  to  say  which 

[  275  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


race  was  the  greatest  sufferer  or  which  the  freest  from 
oppression.  Practically  the  entire  country  was  in  a  state 
of  anarchy  and  there  was  none  to  deliver.  On  March  13, 
1908,  the  Porte  reluctantly  consented  to  the  British  pro- 
posal that  the  mandates  of  foreign  officials  in  Macedonia 
be  renewed  for  a  period  of  seven  years.  A  budget  was 
adopted  for  the  support  of  the  army,  the  civil  hst,  and  the 
railway,  which  threatened  a  deficit  of  nearly  $4,000,000. 
With  all  these  arrangements  no  party  to  the  transaction 
was  satisfied,  except  those  European  Powers  that  hoped,  in 
the  end,  to  make  political  capital  out  of  Macedonia's  afflic- 
tion. These  entered  reluctantly  into  agreement  as  did  also 
the  sultan,  who  saw  his  personal  power  in  the  three  prov- 
inces gradually  wane;  but  his  former  experiences  made 
him  quick  to  read  the  signs  of  the  times. 

In  the  meantime  the  army  in  those  provinces  had  been 
reenforced.  Monastir,  upon  the  border  of  Albania  and  con- 
nected by  rail  with  Salonica,  was  made  an  important  mili- 
tary post.  The  people  themselves  had  no  faith  that  these 
measures  would  assure  them  of  safety  of  life  and  property, 
while  the  representatives  of  the  Porte  were  anxious  to 
demonstrate  that  the  scheme  of  the  Powers  was  not  calcu- 
lated to  restore  and  maintain  order.  Matters  went  on 
from  intolerable  to  worse  until  plunder,  robbery,  brigand- 
age and  murder  became  daily  occurrences  in  practically  all 
parts  of  the  country.  These  were  the  conditions  that  pre- 
vailed in  Macedonia  the  latter  part  of  July,  1908. 

What  were  some  of  the  general  conditions  in  Turkey 
which  led  directly  to  the  uprising  in  Macedonia  soon  after 
the  20th  of  July,  1908,  resulting  in  the  revival  of  the 
constitution  for  all  Turkey  which  had  remained  inactive 
since  1877?  Sultan  Hamid  II  has  been  an  absolute  ruler. 
His  pride  has  centered  in  his  complete  personal  mastery 


[276] 


CONSTITUTIONAL     GOVERNMENT 

over  every  department  of  government  and  all  officials,  both 
civil  and  military.  As  he  advanced  in  years,  he  became  in- 
creasingly suspicious  of  every  one  holding  office  or  occupy- 
ing a  position  of  influence.  He  seemed  so  morbidly  afraid 
of  a  popular  uprising  that  any  mention  of  an  Armenian 
revolution  or  reference  to  a  constitutional  government  or 
suggestion  of  a  Young  or  New  Turkey  party,  threw  hira 
into  a  state  of  nervous  panic.  In  order  to  protect  his  own 
person,  to  guard  his  administration  from  corruption  by 
men  who  thought  in  terms  of  modem  government,  and  to 
suppress  any  and  all  movements  toward  reform,  he  gradu- 
ally built  up  about  him  a  cumbersome,  cruel  and  expensive 
system  of  espionage.  Every  official  from  the  grand  vizier 
at  the  Porte  to  the  postmaster  in  a  remote  inland  village 
was  watched  and  reported  upon.  One  official  was  directed 
to  make  secret  reports  upon  a  colleague  and  all  men  of 
wealth  and  consequent  influence,  and  especially  all  who  had 
received  a  degree  of  modern  education  were  always  under 
sleepless  surveillance  from  the  watch-dogs  of  the  palace. 

No  one  knows  how  many  of  these  men  were  engaged  In 
the  secret  service,  but  there  were  undoubtedly  many  thou- 
sands. Some  drew  salaries  of  large  proportion  while  others 
were  paid  according  to  the  service  rendered.  These  spies 
well  knew  that  they  too  were  under  observation  by  others 
who  had  been  commissioned  to  see  that  they  were  loyal  to 
their  chief.  The  gates  of  the  foreign  embassies  were 
guarded,  and  the  names  of  all  Ottoman  subjects  who  en- 
tered them  were  reported  to  the  police.  Everywhere  these 
sleuth-hounds  of  Yildez  were  doing  their  best  to  justify 
their  appointment,  and,  if  possible,  to  secure  a  rise  in 
salary  or  a  handsome  bonus.  It  is  reported  that  this  large 
corps  of  secret  service  men  were  the  only  officials  who 
received  liberal  pay  and  who  got  it  regularly  and  in  cash. 

[  277  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


Through  information  thus  obtained,  strange  things  took 
place.  Of  course  there  were  never  any  hearings  or  trials. 
None  were  necessary  when  trusted  spies  had  reported  ad- 
versely. Groups  of  students  in  the  government  schools 
disappeared  and  the  parents  even  did  not  dare  ask  a  ques- 
tion. Men  of  wealth  found  themselves  bundled  off  to 
Arabia  in  poverty,  and  officials  in  honor  on  one  day  were  in 
exile,  if  not  in  their  graves,  on  the  next.  The  only  thing 
certain  about  the  life  of  an  influential  and  intelligent  Otto- 
man subject  was  his  being  under  strict  surveillance  by  those 
who  were  mainly  concerned  to  satisfy  their  chief  of  their 
own  efficiency. 

During  recent  years  the  one  horror  of  the  sultan  has 
been  the  "  Young  Turks,"  which  meant  Turkish  subjects 
who  know  about  good  government  and  are  eager  to  see  it 
tried  in  Turkey.  All  who  were  suspected  of  harboring 
such  ideas  were  summarily  treated.  Many  such  have  been 
banished  into  interior  provinces  such  as  Macedonia,  Asia 
Minor,  Armenia  and  Syria.  Some  were  given  minor  offices 
in  their  place  of  banislmient,  but  all  have  been  dihgent  in 
promoting  their  ideas.  There  is  hardly  a  town  of  impor- 
tance in  Turkey  to  which  one  or  more  of  these  intelligent, 
thinking  Ottoman  subjects  has  not  been  exiled  and  where 
they  have  not  propagated  their  principles  of  reform  as 
opportunity  offered.  This  seed-sowing  of  modern  ideas 
has  been  broadcast,  and  the  seed  has  fallen  into  rich  soil. 
During  these  years,  secretly  and  in  the  dark,  multitudes  of 
Ottom^an  sub j  ects  have  been  studying  the  science  of  govern- 
ment with  the  best  educated  in  the  empire  as  instructors. 
The  lesson  has  not  been  the  less  impressive  because  secret 
and  the  teacher  none  the  less  in  earnest  because  his  pro- 
fession was  perilous.  Wherever  these  exiles  went  they 
found    the    people   writhing    under   injustice.      Excessive 


278  ] 


CONSTITUTIONAL      GOVERNMENT 

taxes  were  assessed  and  then  collected  by  extortionate  of- 
ficials who,  in  the  name  of  the  sultan,  carried  on  a  system 
of  public  robbery.  Taxes  paid  in  the  spring  were  again 
demanded  in  the  autumn,  the  peasant  having  no  defense  in 
the  absence  of  tax  receipts.  These  teachers  of  a  possible 
new  order  of  things  did  not  need  to  take  time  to  persuade 
their  hearers  that  a  change  was  desirable.  Restlessness, 
approaching  a  state  of  sheer  desperation,  everywhere  pre- 
vailed. In  the  meantime,  revolutionary  committees  or 
organizations  among  Armenians  and  perhaps  other  na- 
tionalities had  identified  themselves  sympathetically,  if  not 
formally,  with  the  New  Turkey  party. 

Government  by  espionage  and  instruction  of  the  masses 
by  banished  reformers  have  been  going  on  in  all  parts  of 
Turkey  for  many  years,  no  one  can  say  with  certainty  how 
many.  It  was  inevitable  that  a  crisis  must  come.  The  ad- 
ditional fact  that  all  public  officials,  especially  the  army, 
were  poorly  paid  on  paper,  if  at  all,  brought  things  to  a 
pass  that  seemed  to  be  waiting  only  for  a  leader  or  an 
occasion  to  precipitate  concerted  action. 

Such  was  the  situation  in  Macedonia  the  latter  part  of 
July,  1908.  The  large  army,  half  starved  and  underpaid, 
was  sent  into  the  country  to  put  down  lawlessness  among 
a  people  made  desperate  by  prolonged  oppression.  Previ- 
ous experiences  had  satisfied  the  soldiers  that  in  battling 
with  the  hardy  mountaineers,  many  of  whom  were  fighting 
for  their  homes,  they  had  little  chance  of  success.  Why 
should  they  throw  their  lives  away  in  a  useless  conflict  with 
people  of  their  own  blood,  and  for  a  sovereign  who  ap- 
peared scarcely  grateful.  This  was  indeed  an  opportune 
hour  to  strike  a  blow  for  liberty.  It  is  not  yet  known  how 
completely  the  New  Turks  —  called  in  Macedonia,  the 
"  Committee    of    Ottoman    Union    and    Progress  "  —  had 

[  279  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


organized,  but  subsequent  events  show  an  excellent  degree 
of  cooperation. 

In  Monastir  the  army  took  oath  of  allegiance  to  this 
committee;  the  troops  in  Salonica,  Kortcha  and  other 
parts  of  the  country  followed  in  their  lead.  A  few  officers 
who  hesitated  were  summarily  shot.  Proclamations  in 
the  name  of  the  committee  were  posted  in  the  leading 
cities  asking  all  to  join  the  society.  At  Kortcha  in  Al- 
bania, for  instance,  a  time  limit  was  set  for  joining  the 
movement,  after  which  all  outside  were  to  be  regarded  as 
traitors.  In  all  Macedonia  there  seemed  to  be  little  hesi- 
tation. Other  proclamations  enjoining  orderly  conduct 
were  posted,  and  within  five  days  Macedonia  was  more 
quiet  and  life  and  property  safer  than  for  twenty  years 
previously. 

In  the  meantime,  the  leaders  were  in  telegraphic  commu- 
nication with  the  sultan  at  Constantinople.  What  had 
taken  place  was  reported  to  him,  and  he  was  asked  to  de- 
clare a  constitutional  government  without  delay.  It  was 
intimated  that  the  army  was  ready  to  march  on  Constanti- 
nople if  he  refused.  He  hesitated  for  a  while,  but  when  he 
learned  that  the  Albanians  were  in  the  forefront  of  the 
movement,  and  that  he  could  not  depend  upon  the  troops, 
he  yielded  to  a  demand  he  could  not  resist.  Ferid  Pasha, 
his  Albanian  grand  vizier,  was  summarily  dismissed.  Said 
Pasha  was  appointed  to  succeed  him  and  Kiamil  Pasha  was 
placed  upon  the  Council  of  Ministers ;  both  men  of  liberal 
ideas  who  had  been  saved  by  Great  Britain  when  there  was 
a  price  upon  their  heads.  Stormy  debates  followed  in  the 
palace  at  Constantinople  as  to  what  could  be  done  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  formidable  committee  in  Macedonia. 
Honeyed  words  and  paper  promotions  had  proved  unavail- 
ing   and    repeated    telegrams    from    the    front    spoke    of 


[  280  ] 


CONSTITUTIONAL     GOVERNMENT 

urgency.  At  last  the  sultan  yielded  and,  on  Friday,  the 
24th  of  July,  issued  an  irade  restoring  the  constitution  of 
1876  that  had  been  suspended  since  1877. 

The  constitution  which  is  now  revived  was  sanctioned 
by  Sultan  Hamid  II  soon  after  he  came  to  the  throne  in 
1876.  At  that  time  a  European  Commission  met  in  Con- 
stantinople to  suggest  methods  by  which  the  sultan  might 
set  in  order  his  European  provinces.  He  desired  to  show 
Europe  that  he  was  able  to  work  out  reforms  of  his  own. 
He  therefore  appointed  a  well-recognized  reformer  as  grand 
vizier  and  proclaimed  a  constitution.  This  provided  for  a 
responsible  ministry,  a  senate,  a  chamber  of  deputies,  the 
right  of  public  meeting,  freedom  of  the  press,  the  appoint- 
ment of  judges  for  life,  compulsory  intermediate  education, 
religious  liberty,  and  a  long  list  of  other  rights  and  priv- 
ileges belonging  to  an  enlightened  and  free  government. 
Within  two  months,  Midhat  Pasha,  who  drafted  the  con- 
stitution, was  banished. 

An  election,  however,  was  held  and,  in  1877,  the  Senate 
and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  met  in  a  Parhament  House 
that  had  been  fitted  up  by  the  sultan  in  Constantinople. 
At  that  time  in  his  speech  from  the  throne,  he  repeated 
his  promise  for  social  reforms  and  a  reorganization 
of  the  army  and  navy.  The  two  houses  were  discussing 
this  address  when  war  broke  out  in  Russia.  Martial 
law  was  proclaimed  in  May,  and  in  June  parliament 
was  adjourned.  Once  again  that  year  it  was  assembled 
but  the  sultan  was  not  pleased  with  the  independence 
exhibited,  so  in  February,  1878,  it  was  dissolved  or 
*'  suspended  "  as  he  preferred  to  call  it.  It  never  met 
again. 

This  is  the  constitution  to  which  the  thoroughly  alarmed 
sultan   turned   as  the  demand   came  up  from  his  trusted 

[  281  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


troops,  beloved  Albanians  and  faithful  INIoslems  in  Mace- 
donia, for  immediate  and  effectual  reforms. 

To  this  he  solemnly  swore  fidelity  in  the  most  sacred 
way  known  to  the  Moslem,  namely,  upon  the  Koran.  The 
Sheik-ul-Islam,  the  supreme  high  priest  of  the  Moham- 
medan faith,  exhibited  to  the  people  in  Constantinople 
the  book  upon  which  this  oath  was  taken,  and  made  public 
declaration  that  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  sultan  faithfully 
to  carry  out  his  pledge.  He  even  went  further  than  this 
and  said  that  it  is  the  spirit  of  Islam  to  give  the  fullest 
religious  freedom  to  all  subjects  of  the  empire  and  to 
guarantee  constitutional  justice  and  liberty.  All  this  com- 
mitted the  sultan  to  the  constitution  far  more  irrevocably 
than  he  was  committed  in  1876.  It  made  also  the  Sheik-ul- 
Islam  witness  and  SDonsor  to  the  people  of  the  sultan's 
promise. 

The  announcement  that  a  constitutional  government  was 
granted  was  wired  to  the  impatient  leaders  in  Macedonia 
and  published  in  the  papers  in  Constantinople.  The  re- 
sult was  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  any  country  in  any 
age.  All  Turkey  gave  way  to  a  carnival  of  joy.  An 
order  was  issued  abohshing  the  secret  service,  and  freedom 
of  the  press  was  guaranteed  by  the  constitution.  All  po- 
litical prisoners  were  released  and  those  in  exile  were  in- 
vited back  to  their  homes.  Incidentally  the  prison  doors 
were  thrown  wide  open  and  the  criminal  shared  the  common 
joy  of  all.  The  occupation  of  the  censors  of  the  press 
was  gone  and  every  paper  in  the  empire  spread  the  glad 
news  that  a  new  day  had  dawned.  New  papers  started 
hke  mushrooms  in  a  night.  Representatives  from  the  com- 
mittee in  Macedonia  proceeded  to  Constantinople  and  ap- 
parently came  to  an  understanding  with  the  sultan  as  to 
the  situation.     He  was  plainly  told,  it  is  persistently  ru- 

f  282  1 


CONSTITUTIONAL     GOVERNMENT 

mored,  that  if  he  did  not  appoint  as  ministers  men  of  their 
choosing,  his  only  safety  would  lie  in  abdication.  The  old 
members  of  the  cabinet,  representing  the  regime  of  op- 
pression, disappeared  or  were  imprisoned,  and  the  new  men 
quietly  stepped  into  their  places.  Isset  Pasha,  the  much 
hated  secretary  of  the  sultan,  in  spite  of  efforts  by  the  new 
party  to  retain  him,  succeeded  in  boarding  a  British  vessel 
at  Constantinople  and  escaping  to  England. 

The  people  of  Turkey,  with  centuries  of  repressive  dis- 
cipline in  the  pohtical  school  of  the  empire,  were  supposed 
to  have  lost  the  faculty  of  spontaneous  exultation  or  gen- 
eral demonstration  of  joy.  But  impelled  by  a  sense  of 
liberty  never  before  experienced,  the  entire  population 
broke  into  an  outburst  of  appreciation  for  the  new  order 
of  things  such  as  Turkey  had  never  before  witnessed. 

The  people  gathered  by  thousands  and  by  tens  of  thou- 
sands in  the  public  squares  of  their  cities  to  listen  to  the 
proclamation  of  liberty  and  the  firing  of  salutes  in  honor  of 
the  occasion.  These  crowds  were  composed  of  Christians 
and  Moslems,  who  only  a  few  days  before  had  seemed 
to  hate  each  other  with  deadliest  hatred.  Now  they  clapped 
their  hands  and  joined  their  voices  in  shouting  "  Long  live 
the  Fatherland,"  "  Long  live  the  People,"  "  Long  live 
Liberty,"  "  Long  live  the  Constitution."  Christian  and 
Moslem  leaders  embraced  and  kissed  one  another  in  public 
while  tears  rolled  down  the  cheeks  of  thousands  as  they 
took  part  in  the  festivities.  Great  assemblies  were  ad- 
dressed by  Mohammedan  and  Christian  speakers,  all  of 
whom  exhorted  the  people  to  unity  and  the  maintenance 
of  order,  declaring  that  religious  distinctions  were  now 
done  away,  as  all  pledged  their  allegiance  to  the  new  con- 
stitution and  to  the  Ottoman  empire.  In  an  immense  pro- 
cession in  Salonica  a  float  was  drawn  upon  which  rode  a  girl 

[283  1 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


dressed  as  the  Goddess  of  Liberty.  At  Constantinople  in 
one  of  the  large  Gregorian  churches,  the  assembly  was  ad- 
dressed by  both  Mohammedans  and  Christians  and  the 
Moslem  band  played  the  Armenian  national  air.  For  an 
Armenian  to  have  sung  this  air  one  month  before  would 
have  meant  exile  or  death. 

In  one  of  the  principal  mosques  of  the  capital  a  memo- 
rial service  for  the  Armenians  slain  in  the  massacre  of  1896 
was  held  in  which  Moslems  and  Christians  fraternally 
j  oined.  This  was  followed  by  a  similar  mass  meeting  in  an 
Armenian  church  in  memory  of  the  Mohammedans  who  had 
laid  down  their  hves  for  the  freedom  of  their  country.  All 
united  in  the  declaration  that  the  massacred  Armenians 
and  the  Moslems  dying  in  exile  were  brothers  in  their 
common  sacrifice  for  the  freedom  of  Turkey. 

These  scenes  of  spontaneous  celebration  enacted  in  the 
great  centers  of  population  indicated  the  universal  readi- 
ness of  the  people  for  the  proclamation  and  their  unanimity 
in  the  reforms.  It  is  indeed  an  uprising  of  the  people  for 
liberty  and,  by  meeting  their  demands,  the  sultan,  for  the 
time,  has  made  himself  the  most  popular  ruler  sitting  upon 
any  throne.  The  carnival  of  joy  gives  hint  of  what  their 
disappointment  will  be  should  there  be  any  breach  of  good 
faith  in  securing  to  them  all  the  privileges  granted  by  the 
constitution.  Not  the  least  of  their  joy  is  in  the  marvel 
that  this  revolution  has  been  brought  about  almost  without 
the  shedding  of  blood.  A  few  in  Macedonia  who  hesitated 
to  join  the  new  party  were  executed,  but  in  Constanti- 
nople there  was  no  loss  of  Hfe  in  completing  the  transfer 
from  the  old  to  the  new  regime. 

The  masses  of  Turkey  know  little  of  the  duties  and  re- 
sponsibihties  of  a  parliament.  They  are  launching  out 
upon  an   experiment,  unknown   and  untried.      It  remains 

[  28-i  1 


CONSTITUTIONAL     GOVERNMENT 

to  be  seen  how  they  will  meet  their  own  expectations  in 
the  measure  of  self-government  which  the  constitution 
grants.  There  are  many  able,  educated  men  among  the 
Turks,  Armenians,  Greeks,  Bulgarians,  and  Albanians. 
The  question  is :  Will  these,  laying  aside  all  national  and 
religious  jealousies,  be  able  to  work  together  in  the  crea- 
tion of  a  new  government,  and  all  under  the  leadership  of 
Sultan  Hamid.^  It  is  also  an  open  question  whether  the 
sultan  himself,  after  a  life  of  absolutism,  can  adapt  himself 
to  the  new  order  and  execute  it  in  a  way  to  insure  a  sym- 
pathetic   following   and  substantial   success. 

There  is  danger  that  the  people  may  be  unreasonable  in 
their  demands  and  rebel  against  the  collection  of  taxes  ade- 
quate for  the  proper  conduct  of  the  government.  Only 
a  beginning  has  yet  been  made.  Much  remains  to  be 
done. 

In  all  the  history  of  Turkey  a  reform  has  never  been 
inaugurated  with  the  same  solemnity  and  rehgious  sanc- 
tion that  attended  the  recent  declaration  of  constitutional 
government.  The  highest  sanction  of  Islam  has  been  ac- 
corded it,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  the  sultan  could  not 
materially  alter  his  course  without  bringing  himself  per- 
sonally in  the  eyes  of  the  people  into  open  conflict  with  his 
own  rehgion  and  the  faith  of  the  great  majority  of  his 
subjects.  It  is  conceivable  that,  if  he  should  find  it  impos- 
sible faithfully  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  consti- 
tution, he  will  be  asked  to  step  aside  and  permit  his 
constitutionally  proclaimed  successor  to  fulfil  his  oath  of 
loyalty. 

Under  a  constitutional  government  well  established  and 
righteously  administered,  there  are  boundless  possibilities 
for  the  material,  intellectual,  political,  and  moral  advance 
of  the  empire,  so  long  regarded  as  decadent.     This  can  be 

[285  ] 


DAYBREAK    IN    TURKEY 


accomplished  only  by  tireless  labors  and  great  sacrifices 
upon  the  part  of  those  who  bear  the  responsibihty.  But 
it  can  be  done  if  all  national  and  traditional  differences  are 
buried,  in  the  one  patriotic  purpose  to  restore  the  country 
to  something  of  its  former  power  and  glory,  and  to  weld 
the  masses  of  its  divergent  population  into  a  homogeneous 
nation. 

It  is  to  be  sincerely  hoped  that  the  European  Powers 
will  not  interfere  with  this  endeavor  upon  the  part  of 
the  people  of  Turkey  to  establish  for  themselves  a  safe 
and  just  government.  They  have  the  right  to  a  free 
hand  in  working  out  the  problem  of  government  for  them- 
selves, so  long  as  they  do  not  plunge  the  country  into 
anarchy. 

There  has  never  been  a  time  when  Western  peoples  have 
had  a  greater  opportunity  to  aid  materially  in  making 
stable  the  new  order  of  things  in  the  Ottoman  empire. 
Under  the  Constitution,  with  compulsory  education  and 
a  free  press,  Turkey  will  require  aid  from  without  in  or- 
ganizing and  establishing  schools  all  over  the  country,  and 
in  the  preparation  of  a  literature  of  the  widest  range. 
These  needs  are  at  once  apparent.  The  colleges  in  the 
country  should  be  immediately  enlarged  and  strengthened 
that  they  may  be  able  to  meet  the  demands  that  will  be 
made  upon  them.  The  entire  country  is  in  need  of  normal 
schools  to  train  teachers  for  educational  institutions  of 
the  preparatory  grades.  Turkey  needs  and  deserves  the 
sympathy  and  cooperation  of  other  nations,  not  by  way 
of  interference,  but  by  way  of  fraternal  assistance  and 
genuine  help  to  the  full  realization  of  all  the  benefits  of 
a  representative  and  a  constitutional  government.  The 
motto  which  seems  to  have  been  adopted  by  common 
consent  Is,  "  Liberty,  Justice,  Equality  and  Fraternity." 


[  286 


CONSTITUTIONAL     GOVERNMENT 

Every  friend  of  constitutional  government  can  sympa- 
thetically join  with  the  people  of  Turkey  in  their  honest 
endeavor  to  establish  a  new  order  for  themselves  upon 
these  four  corner-stones  as  their  basis  of  union  and  mutual 
well-being. 


[  287  ] 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aden,  133. 
Adrianople,  33,  173. 
Agriculture,  methods,  23,  233;  prod- 
ucts, 23,  24. 
Aintab,  139,  171;  medical  work,  208. 
Albanians,  78,  80,  261 ;  work  among, 

262. 
American  Bible  Society,  154. 
American   Board   of   Commissioners 

for  Foreign  Missions,  90,  145,  146. 
American  College  for  Girls,  189. 
Amurath  I,  1359-1403,  33. 
Anatolia  College,  191,  234. 
Anderson,  Sec.  Rufus,  123,  171,  183. 
Angell,  James  B.,  quotation,  136. 
Arabia,  missions  in,  132. 
Armenia,     traditional    history,    65 ; 

political   history,   66;    population, 

67;  religious  history,  68. 
Armenian  Church,  Evangelical;    see 

Evangelical  Armenian  Church. 
Armenian   Church,    Gregorian;     see 

Gregorian  Church. 
Armenian  EvangeUcal  Union,  163. 
Armenians,  65-70 ;  tour  among,  123- 

126;   interest  in,  144,  149;    desire 

for  political  freedom,  269. 
Army,  organization  of,  43. 

Bajazet  I,  33. 

Barnum,  H.  N.,  186,  216. 

Barton,  George  A.,  quotation,  118. 

Beach,  Harlan  P.,  quotation,  180. 

Bebek,  boys'  school,  164,  171 ;  semi- 
nary, 182. 

Beirut,  122,  137 ;  medical  work,  208 ; 
press,  199;  school,  184;  SjTian 
Protestant  College,  187,  190. 

Bible,  Armenian,  150-153,  198;  pub- 
lication, 153;  translations,  199. 

Biblical  interest  in  Turkey,  19. 

Bird,  Mr.,  123. 

Bithynia  Union,  228. 


Black  stone  of  the  Kaaba,  96. 
Bliss,  Daniel,  187. 

Bliss,  Edwin  Munsell,  quotation,  222. 
British   and   Foreign   13ible   Society, 

151,  154. 
Bryce,  Hon.  James,  quotation,  196. 
Bulgarians,  80;   in  Macedonia,  263; 

work  among,  173. 

Cabinet,  Turkish,  changes  in,  283. 

"Capitulations,"  241. 

Central  Turkey  College,  Aintab,  189. 

Church  Missionary  Society,  145. 

Cilicia  Union,  228. 

Circassians,  80. 

Classical  interest  in  Turkey,  18. 

Colleges,    official    recognition,    189; 

present  need,  286. 
Committee  of  Ottoman   Union  and 

Progress,  279. 
Concessions,  241. 
Constantinople,       137 ;      missionary 

center,  ^87,  93-97. 
Constitutional    government,    present 

problems,  285. 
Constitutional  liberty  granted,  281. 
Cromer,  Lord,  quotation,  10,  40,  50, 

112. 
Crusades,  54,  b%. 
Cyprus,  possession  by  England,  47. 

Darazi,  founder  of  Druses,  hb. 
Death     penalty    for    Mohammedan 

convert.  133,  250. 
Dechne  of  Empire,  15. 
Dennis,    James    S.,    quotation,    206, 

260,  274. 
De  Redcliffe,  Sir  Stratford,  250,  253. 
Diarbekr,  128,  130,  139. 
Dionysius,  160. 
Disciples  of  Christ,  145. 
Dodge,  Dr.  Asa,  207. 
Druses.  .55,  78. 


[  ^291 


INDEX 


Dunmore,  Rev.  and  Mrs.,  130. 
Dwight,    H.    G.    O.,    tour    in   Asia 

Minor,  123-126. 
Dwight,  Henry  Otis,  quotation,  92. 

Edict  of  Toleration,  1453,  241. 

Education,  106,  181 ;  of  priests,  106, 
159,  160;  of  women,  107,  187; 
Lancasterian  schools,  160;  theo- 
logical, 176;  Turkish,  193;  indus- 
trial, 234. 

Emigration,  236. 

England,  first  treaty  relations  with 
Turkey,  34 ;  seizure  of  Cyprus,  47 ; 
poUcy  in  Turkey,  48. 

English  taught  in  schools,  183,  184. 

Erzerum,  127,  139. 

Eski-Zagra,  173. 

Euphrates  College,  Harpoot,  186, 188, 
190,  191,  229. 

Evangelical  Armenian  Chiu-ch,  161, 
165,  166,  167,  168,  174,  177. 

Fatalism,  210. 
Financial  condition,  271. 
First  Turkish  ambassador,  33. 
Fisk,  PHny,  87,  119,  120,  121,  145, 

149. 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  54. 

Gehmant,  policy  in  Turkey,  48; 
influence  in  Turkey,  270. 

GoodeU,  William,  121,  123,  157,  159, 
174,  177,  198,  249. 

Grant,  Dr.  Asahel,  127,  129,  207. 

Greco-Turkish  war,  121,  123. 

Greek  Church,  59-62. 

Greeks,  work  among,  143;  in  Mace- 
donia, 264. 

Gregorian  (Armenian)  Church,  68- 
70;  deterioration,  70,  79,  102,  104; 
jealousy  in,  102;  political  organi- 
zation, 105;  reform  in,  150,  165, 
237. 

Hagopos,  163. 

Haig,  father  of  Armenian  race,  65. 
Hall  of  the  Holy  Garment,  96. 
Hamid  II,  see  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid 
II. 


Hamhn,  Cyrus,  164,  182,  234. 

Harem,  41. 

Harpoot,  131;  educational  work, 
186;  printing-press,  201. 

Harpoot  Evangelical  Union,  228,  229. 

"Hatti  Sherif  of  Gul  Hane,"  grant- 
ing of  rehgious  liberty,  250. 

Health  of  missionary,  122. 

Hejaz,  133. 

Hepworth,  George  H.,  216;  quota- 
tion, 212. 

Historical  interest  in  Turkey,  17. 

Hohnes,  Mr.,  128. 

Hospitals,  self-support  in,  209,  227, 
228. 

Industrial  education,  234. 

Industrial  reform,  233. 

Imperial  Protestant  Charter  of  1850, 
252. 

Islam,  Koran,  35,  201 ;  death  penalty 
for  change  of  faith,  133,  250;  fatal- 
ism, 210. 

Jacobites,  57-59. 
Janissaries,  32. 
Jerusalem,  122. 
Jesuit  schools,  183. 
Jews,  56,  57;   revival  of  interest  in, 
86 ;  work  among,  140,  143. 

Kaaba,  95. 

Keith-Falconer  Mission  in  Arabia, 
133. 

King,  Jonas,  120,  121,  160. 

Koordistan  Missionary  Society,  229. 

Koords,  history,  73;  character,  74; 
armed  by  government,  75;  re- 
ligion, 76,  78. 

Koran,  201;  basis  of  law,  35. 

Lancaster,  Joseph,  160. 
Lancasterian  schools,  181. 
Lawrence,  Edward  A.,  quotation,  14, 

64. 
Laws,  founded  on  Koran,  35. 

Macedonia,  Turkish  rule  in,  261, 
263;  uprising  in,  264,  276,  279; 
reforms    promised,    275;     Young 


[292  ] 


INDEX 


Turk  Party  in,  279;    constitution 
restored,  281. 

Mahomet  I,  1413-1421,  33. 

Mahomet  II,  conqueror  of  Greek 
Empire,  33. 

Marash,  172,  188. 

Maronites,  54. 

Martyn,  Henry,  124. 

Massacres,  218. 

Mecca,  94. 

Medical  missionaries,  207. 

Medina,  207. 

"Memoirs  of  William  Goodell," 
quotation,  232. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Board  (U.  S.), 
146. 

Midhat  Pasha,  281. 

Mineral  resources,  24. 

Mission  poHcy,  119,  139,  141,  157, 
159,  162,  207,  223. 

Missionaries,  moral  influence  of,  142 ; 
noted,  177;  contribution  to  knowl- 
edge of  country,  115;  to  literature, 
199;  to  industry,  233;  trust  in, 
216;  rehef  work,  218;  relation  to 
native  churches,  175 ;  under  Eng- 
lish protection,  241 ;  charges 
against,  255. 

Missionary  interest,  awakening  of,  86. 

Missions,  division  of  field,  145; 
problems  of,  115;   object  of,  108. 

"Mohammedan  World  of  To-day," 
quotation,  72,  248,  266. 

Mohammedans,  contact  with  Chris- 
tianity, 113-115,  119,  238;  interest 
in,  144;  converts,  254,  257;  re- 
ligious Uberty  promised,  250;  no 
religious  liberty,  255. 
"Multeka,"  code  of  laws,  35. 

Native  Church,  self-support,  224- 

227;  self-propagation,  228. 
New  Turk  Party,  79,  268,  279. 
Nicholas,  Czar,  epithet  applied  to,  15. 
Norton,  Thomas  H.,  quotation,  170. 
Nusairiyeh,  53. 

Orchan,  32. 

Orphans,  industrial  training  of,  234. 

Osnian.  founder  of  dynasty,  31. 


Palestine,  missionaries  to,  86. 

Parker,  John  M.,  138. 

Parsons,  Levi,  86,  87,  119,  120,  145, 

149. 
Pashtimaljian  school,  160,  181. 
Patriarch,  Greek,  60 ; ,  Gregorian,  69 ; 

power  of,  105. 
Periodical  pubhcations,  200. 
Perkins,  Mr.,  126. 
Persecution  of  "  EvangeUcals,"  166. 
Peters,  John  P.,  quotation,  156. 
PhilippopoUs,  173. 
Physicians,  native,  208. 
Pomeroy,  Dr.,  167. 
Population  of  Turkey,  16. 
"Porte,  The,"  meaning  of,  34. 
Postal  system,  26. 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Missions,  146 ; 

work  among  Maronites,  54. 
Press,   printing,   172,    197;    freedom 

guaranteed,  282. 
Priests,  Christian,   low  standard  of, 

103. 
Pri\'y  council,  36. 
Pro])erty,  right  to  hold,  244. 
Protestant  Charter  of  1847,  252. 

Railroads,  24,  25,  47. 
Ramsay,  W.  M.,  quotation,  240. 
Reformed  Church,  145. 
Reformed       (Dutch)       Church      of 

America,  in  Arabia,  133. 
Reforms  in  Gregorian  Church,  237. 
Religious  liberty  granted,  250,  253. 
"Researches  in  Armenia,"  Smith  and 

Dwight,  123-126. 
Revolutionary  parties,  264,  270. 
Riggs,  Ehas,  198. 
Roadways,  24. 

Robert  College,  184,  185,  189,  191. 
Roman  CathoUcs,  opposition  of,  121, 

144,  162. 
Russell,  Earl,  255. 
Russia,      opposition     to    missionary 

work,   182;    influence  in  Turkey, 

268,  270. 
Russian  Bible  Society,  150-152. 

St.  Gregory  the  Illuminator,  68. 
St.  Paul's  Institute,  Tarsus,  189. 


293 


INDEX 


Salonica,  140. 

Samakov,  Collegiate  and  Theological 
Institute,  187. 

Schauffler,  Dr.,  143,  182. 

Schneider,  Dr.,  171. 

Schools,  present  need  of,  286. 

Sell-support,  hospitals,  209,  227; 
church,  224,  228;  schools,  226,  228. 

Selim  III,  1789-1807,  reforms  of,  8a. 

Seventh  Day  Adventists,  145. 

Sheik-ul-Islam,  35,  282. 

Size  of  Territory,  16. 

Smith,  Eli,  tour  in  Asia  Minor,  123- 
126. 

Smyrna,  137,  140,  172. 

Spies,  government,  227;  aboUshed, 
282. 

"Sublime  Porte,"  34. 

Suliman  "the  great,"  1520-1566,  34. 

Sultan  Adbul  Aziz.  255. 

Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  II,  succession 
to  throne,  41 ;  character,  41,  46, 
48,  270;  absolute  power  in  gov- 
ernment, 35,  43;  in  rehgion,  46, 
93,  94,  96;  foreign  relations,  47; 
attempt  to  subdue  Koords,  75; 
system  of  espionage,  277;  fear  of 
Young  Turks,  278;  restores  con- 
stitution to  Macedonia,  281. 

Sultan  Abdul  Medjid,  250,  251; 
grants  religious  hberty,  253. 

Syrian  Church,  57-59. 

Syrian  Protestant  College,  187,  190. 

Syrians,  work  among,  121,  144,  173. 

Tamerlane,  32,  33. 

Taxation,  system  of,  51,  279. 

Telegraphy,  26,  234. 

Territory,  population,  16;  size,  16. 

Theological  schools,  190. 


Townsend,  Meredith,  quotation,  22, 

30,  100. 
Transportation,  25. 
"Travels    and    Researches    in    Asia 

Minor,"  138. 
Treaty  of  Berhn,  256. 
Treaty  of  Paris,  253. 
Treaty  rights,  243. 
Trebizond,  127,  139. 
"Turk,"  rehgious  significance,  77. 
Turkey,  importance  as  mission  field, 

89;   relations  with  foreign  powers, 

241 ;  policy  of  suppression,  268. 
Turkish  schools,  193. 
Turkomen,  80. 
Turks,  origin,  31,  77;  character,  79; 

dominance  over  non-Moslems,  78, 

81. 

Unions  of  native  churches,  176. 

United  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  in 
Arabia,  133. 

United  States,  Armenians  in,  236. 

United  States,  relations  with  Turk- 
ish government,  34,  45,  241,  245. 

Vali,  power  of,  36. 

Vartenes,  expelled  from  church,  165. 

Vilayet,  36. 

Ward,    William    Hayes,    quotation, 

148. 
Wheeler,  Crosby  H.,  185,  201,  224. 
WilHams,  Talcott,  quotation,  274. 

Yemen,  133. 

Young  Turk  Party,  278;  in  Mace- 
donia, 279. 

ZwEMER,  S.  M.,  quotation,  84. 


294 


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